This archive report was first published on 28 October 2021.
On Wednesday, Cabinet Secretary for Health Mutahi Kagwe made a stunning announcement: only 10 out of 300 Kenyan nurses had passed an English test required for nursing jobs in the United Kingdom. The news sent shockwaves among Kenyans, with many wondering how difficult the questions might have been.
According to a report in The Standard on Thursday, October 28, 2021, the 300 Kenyan nurses had 20 minutes to answer 60 multiple-choice questions. The questions included five multiple-answer questions, which were later revealed to be part of a sample test.
One of the questions read: 'My teacher _______ from the United Kingdom.' The options were: a) are, b) is, c) am, and d) be. Another question asked: 'What's _______ name?' with options a) —, b) his, c) him, and d) he.
However, English teacher and author Silas Gisiora disputed the validity of the test, stating that it was skewed and did not achieve the desired result. He further emphasized that the exam was not as easy as people made it out to be.
"If you set an exam and only 10 out of 300 students pass; that exam is not valid statistically and does not serve the interest of the examinee. It is malicious and punitive which is probably the objective. It needs to be rechecked, reset, re-administered and reviewed," he said.
