MWALIMU ANDREW: Mwisho wa Lami’s unexpected results

Those of you who have been following the happenings in Mwisho wa Lami School and its environs know that not much had been expected from this year’s KCPE class. This was after Bensouda, our school’s female headmaster, disowned this year’s candidates.

She had earlier in the year taken up the class, as she wanted to showcase her abilities in leading high performance. Unfortunately, and as expected, laziness got the better of her, and she relaxed.

Early in third term, Bensouda remembered her Class Eight project. With other schools that we did not know, she administered mock for the students. We were not involved in setting the examinations, nor in the marking. We only invigilated.

“I want this to be like KCPE,” she said when we complained of our non-involvement. “Do you set KCPE exams? Do you mark it? Do you grade it?” We do not do any of that for KCPE. She was right, and happy that she was, for the first time, taking the students through a mini KCPE environment.

But her excitement and pride were short-lived. For our school came last in the five-school Pre-KCPE mock, garnering a mean score of 180.9 marks. Just 180 out of a possible 500. After a one-hour dress down, she disowned the class, and said that her real class will be next year’s class.

REVISION

As deputy head, I did most of the work related to the candidates, which was not a lot. I ensured they were in class, and if I got any revision paper — in any subject — I took it to them. Other teachers came in during official hours, with no one going any extra mile.

KCPE came and went, and we all closed school for the super-long holidays. No one was excitedly looking forward to this year’s results. The exams would be released, the mean score would be below 200 marks, parents would complain and demand that Bensouda be transferred, forget this within two weeks, and life would go back to normal.

So when we heard rumours on Sunday evening that KCPE would be released the next day, we dismissed them. “I know the exams will be released early but not that early. Amina can’t be faster than Matiang’i,” I wrote in an SMS to Kizito. In any case, there was nothing to look forward to.

Come Monday, I heard on radio that the results were out. Unlike other years when I would take my phone to check results for a few of our top candidates via SMS, this time I did not. Why waste my airtime?

I went on with my work. I was however jolted by an SMS from Kizito, who teaches at a neighbouring school. “Congratulations Dre!” the SMS said.

“Kumbe you guys are just quiet na mlikuwa mmejipanga?” he said when I called him. I had no information and asked him for more. “Have you checked the results for your top candidates?” he asked me. I had not. He forwarded me two SMSs and I was happy to learn that Sanglinda Awinja, who was our Index No 3, had scored 398 marks, a new record for the school. That was not all. Rasto’s grandson, Clinton, who was index No. 1 had got 371 marks, another record.

GOOD NEWS

I abandoned whatever I was doing and called Bensouda. She too had received the news and was on her way to school. “Let’s meet in school,” she said. I quickly changed and rushed to Rasto’s home to break the news to the family.

The news had already reached his home and there were already celebrations. I went to Sanglinda’s home and was told that Sanglinda had gone to visit her aunt three villages away. I quickly dispatched a boda boda rider to go fetch her. In the meantime, Clinton was being carried shoulder-high to school.

Bensouda arrived shortly after and was cheered as she arrived. No sooner had she arrived than Sanglinda Awinja also arrived in style. Nyayo, the boda boda rider whom I had sent, had called other boda boda riders and they were hooting in celebration as they led a convoy that brought Sanglinda to school.

The whole school came to a standstill when she arrived. There was disorder all over and we were only rescued by the arrival of Apostle Elkana, the revered Spiritual Superintendent of The Holiest of All Ghosts (THOAG) Tabernacle Assembly. Using his loud voice, he quickly called for order, and led prayers.

After prayers, he quickly presided over a quick celebrations ceremony.

 Apostle Elkana then invited Bensouda to speak. When she spoke, Bensouda praised the students for their hard work, parents for their support; and recounted how she had struggled throughout the year, with little support from the teachers.

“Wafutwe!” someone shouted from the crowd. After her speech, Apostle Elkana quickly preached, and then ended the celebrations.

When the full results came the next day, we were all shocked to realise that although we had produced two top candidates, we also had some very poor performers; and our mean score has dropped from 197.4 last year to 186.9. But who cared? The public and the entire Mwisho wa Lami and its environs were happy that we had performed so well. And that was all that mattered!