The 2024 KCSE results came out, and everyone is interested in the numbers and/or the statistics. Statistics make up a huge part of a Kenyan’s subconscious because it has been ingrained in us that way.
A number of former candidates are engrossed in their exceptional performances, those with average results are content while others are relieved they got their results at all.
A large number is also anxious about the yet-to-be-delivered results, wondering if they’re cancelled or pending. The cycle stays the same year in and year out. Matrix, by definition, is the Kenyan examination system.
Statistically, more than half of the candidates who sat the examinations scored a D+ and below. From a parent’s perspective, that’s not good at all. Having spent their hard-earned money on school fees and extra wants for a student only for them to get a D+. This is most certainly wasted efforts.
The schools also have to grapple with lowered mean scores and a lot more effort for the next cohort of candidates. The losses in terms of resources insurmountable and the panic and disappointed students a little too much to deal with.
In review, however, this paints a grim picture of the state of the schools. The disparity between schools of different levels in different areas, the infrastructure available for schools, the challenges students in underprivileged areas undergo to get an education, and how misplaced the priorities of our leaders are. One school is performing extremely well, and another is grappling with less-than-average scores.
Now, glamourized examination results aren’t all that, soon the former candidates learn of the university entrance process that shocks most of the applicants. A lot of undesired courses are selected for students with a changing process that sucks as well, and not to forget the now really expensive STEM courses that force most to settle.
Then there’s the judgement from friends and neighbours when the full onset of youth sets in and life becomes very experimental. For some twisted reason, we have associated good grades with stainless manners, and when fingers start pointing, the freefall happens too fast for most.
Back to the statistics: Competition and grading each other according to accomplishments and what’s flaunted on social media never stop. It’s all another form of table that ranks us from best to worst performers, and while busy working on the expectations created by the world, you miss the average things that have you standing out and propped from the rest.
Naive out of school, with the belief that anything is possible, reality checks start happening for most, and flailing personalities will be busy checking off an imaginary list while life passes them by, as is the norm.
The glory that comes with good grades isn’t at all long-lived. However, considering the treacherous and completely unguaranteed future that tertiary education is and the alternatives that are, the glory serves its purpose for the limited time it lasts, even though for just a few!
