This archive report was first published on 23 December 2019.
Kenya's Education System Failing D and E Grade Students ¶
December 23, 2019, 22:00
Dr. Wanjiku Wa Njoroge, a curriculum interpreter and content developer, argues that the education system in Kenya has failed students who receive less-than-favourable grades, rather than the students themselves.
The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam results have been released, but the focus has been on the top performers. Dr. Njoroge suggests that the education system has failed to nurture the potential of students who receive less-than-favourable grades.
She attributes this failure to the 8-4-4 curriculum, which has not trained learners to understand, appreciate, and act upon obstacles. Dr. Njoroge uses a Zen story to illustrate this point, where two students who were considered slow and below average were able to use a plank of wood as a lever to dislodge a rock blocking the entrance to their school.
According to Dr. Njoroge, the new competency-based curriculum is intended to debunk the myth that learners who have a high academic intelligence are a cut above the rest. She suggests that there are at least nine different types of intelligences, and that students who receive less-than-favourable grades can still be successful entrepreneurs, creators, and innovators.
