Why lowering college entry grades no solution to crisis

Northeastern Kenya, which has been marginalised for decades, continues to face peace and security challenges that hinder economic development.

Key among them are violent extremism (terrorism and radicalisation); conflicts over natural resources (extractives and land); and political conflicts (elections, ethnicity and devolution).

Deadly attacks by local cells of the Somalia-based Al-Shabaab terrorists in Wajir, Mandera and Garissa counties have continued unabated.

The killing of non-local teachers by suspected Al-Shabaab militants in Wajir recently is part of an unending pattern that has triggered an exodus of such tutors.

This has put the region in dire need of teachers.

EDUCATION
In response, teachers’ unions Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) have demanded that the government withdraw all non-local teachers from terror-prone counties, which the Teachers Service Commission has complied with.

Many schools in Wajir are closed for lack of teachers.

It has been noted that members of the local communities do not take teaching seriously, which largely contributes to the shortage of the professionals.

Local leaders and the Ministry of Education devised a strategy of ensuring locals take up teaching courses in order to fill the vacancies.

It includes lowering the grade for entry level to teacher colleges for P1 training to grade D+ in KCSE.

Is it appropriate to lower the grade? Will that bridge the gap?

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
In the 1980s and 1990s, the region sent a paltry number of students to national schools and public universities but that has tremendously improved with many private and public primary and secondary schools.

More students are joining public and private universities, having attained the entry grade.

But the number of unemployed youth has also risen, despite them having college degrees.

While I welcome affirmative action for local students, lowering the grade is not the answer.

The minimum grade for training as a P1 teacher in Kenya is a C in the Form Four examination.

Lowering the college entry grade for the region is demeaning to the local children as they will be taught by unqualified teachers.

MENTORSHIP

They will find it hard to compete with their peers from other parts of the country.

The answer lies in changing attitudes towards the profession. The young generation feels that teaching is not lucrative and shun it.

This is despite the local community producing some of the best teachers in Kenya, who are the pioneers of education in the region.

They include Maalim Idris, Ibrahim Hussein and Said Warsame.

We need mentorship programmes for the youth to encourage them to become teachers.

INCENTIVES

Also, the national and county governments should fund students from poor backgrounds, as well as teachers who want to upgrade themselves, to get higher education.

Further, the devolved units should stop poaching local trained teachers into county jobs but give them incentives to stay in their teaching jobs.

Other incentives include risk and hardship allowances for teachers willing to work in the region.

There is also a need to increase and upgrade local boarding schools to cater for the nomadic lifestyle of the pastoral communities in order to improve enrolment.

GROWTH
These interventions will, obviously, need a lot more time and resources but, in the long run, they are much better for the children of northeastern Kenya than the suggested stop-gap measure.

Teaching is a noble profession. Teachers produce all kinds of professionals and the society needs to respect them.

If from kindergarten through secondary our children are taught by less-qualified teachers, what kind of foundation will they have in this era of technology?

Do we want the cycle of mediocrity to be repeated year in, year out?

Ms Mohamed, a gender consultant, is director, Women Centre for Peace and Development. [email protected]