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{
    "id": 662254,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/662254/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 33,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Ngetich",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 511,
        "legal_name": "Cecilia Chelangat Ngetich",
        "slug": "cecilia-chelangat-ngetich"
    },
    "content": "Secondly, those who fail to pass or get good marks are sometimes stigmatised because they are branded as failures. In this country, we had a situation where a pupil committed suicide simply because she could not attain good marks to propel her to secondary school. Teachers, on the other hand, are usually blamed for sleeping on the job when students do not pass examinations. Passing or failing examinations is a complex issue. There are certain social, cultural and other physical conditions that contribute to whether pupils or students pass examinations. Socially, we have nomadic communities. In some parts of the country, you may go to school in second term only to find that only half the class is present. The rest have migrated to the neighbouring country. There are other communities that have not fully embraced the idea of education and therefore, see no value of education. They do not encourage their children to go to school. Physical facilities, books, libraries, laboratories and classrooms are required. In this country, we have always been shown pupils learning under trees. You cannot compare them with other pupils who have classrooms and other physical facilities. There is an acute shortage of teachers in this country. As a result, many schools have organised with parents to employ stand- by teachers, who are Form Four leavers, which they can afford to pay. You cannot compare such schools with those that are overstaffed. This could be the reason we have seen teachers resisting to sign the performance contracts. It will be unfair to look at the teachers as a reason for failure of students. Hon. Deputy Speaker, this kind of situation is what led to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology abolishing ranking. On the one hand, we need to motivate teachers and on the other hand, we need to have a selection mode. We have places in secondary schools, but we do not have enough places in universities. If we do not have an examination or a selection mode to say one is joining secondary school or university, we will be doing that in futility. Ranking is good and bad, but let us look at the good side. We can rank schools in the right way. This Bill proposes that the CS in charge of education should come up with regulations to govern the ranking of schools and not just rank in a way that compares schools which are not equal in terms of staffing, physical facilities and even regional disposition. I agree with the proposal to include ranking as one of the functions of the KNEC. We will be asking the CS in charge of education to come up with regulations that will structure ranking of schools so that we can continue with this motivation. The country will then see how to plan for increasing or expanding secondary schools and universities. Already, you are aware of a proposal by the Ministry to completely abolish national examinations for the reason of several malpractices even as we talk about ranking. Parents and other officials encourage cheating. It is parents who buy leaked papers. There is a proposal to emphasise on school-based assessments, practical examinations, projects and other modes of assessing students. Take the example of KCPE. Suppose a pupil loses his or her mother on the exam day, they will definitely be affected. It has been wrong sometimes. We should assess pupils right from Standard Four all the way to Standard Eight. We can have a better way of doing this. However, that is still under discussion. We are also moving towards encouraging technical vocational education that will change this country and enable us to attain Vision 2030. I wish to urge the Members to support the Bill as it is. We should recommend a structured way of assessment. The way it has been done condemns and discourages others. We want a situation where every pupil is given a fair chance. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}