From: odhiambo okecth
Dear Friends,
The Ministry of Education is being led by a chain of Professors. The Minister, The Assistant Minister, the Permanent Secretary and a team of Directors are Professors. When you move to the Kenya National Examination Council, again you meet several other Professors.
But in view of how they are behaving, how they are running the affairs of Education in Kenya, one is tempted to ask, they are Professors in what? These guys are messing our education system. They should go and profess what they know somewhere else.
I will take you down memory lane in justification, and I do not what to make comments about how we ended up with this 8-4-4 system of education in our country. Simple mathematics gives me no answer to that question.
Some times last year, we had serious questions about how Free Primary Education funds were being used. At the time, another Professor was in charge of Education. The said Professor is now in charge of more weighty state matters.
The scandal surrounding the Free Primary Education led to the DFID closing shop and insisting that something must be done before they resume funding the FPE. This scandal made the Rt Hon PM to effect some changes despite knowing that he did not have such powers. He asked Prof Ongeri to step aside as the matter was being investigated but that did not go down well with the Lords of Impunity.
Prof Ongeri himself was defiant and refused to step aside. That was scandal number one under Prof Ongeri.
Some times last year, there was an attempt to recruit teachers on contract to help bridge the shortage gap that we have had in the Ministry for so long. Again, this exercise has been embroiled in controversy and as we write today, it is not clear exactly what is going on.
Prof Ongeri and his Professors seem not to know what they want, whether they want to employ teachers on contract, per constituency or not. Scandal number 2.
Scandal number 3 is about the employment of staff last year in July. The Ministry placed an advert in the papers for which Kenyans applied. Interviews were conducted at the Kenya Institute of Education and some 2,500 Kenyans qualified for employment. They were duly invited and given appointment letters and dispatched to several stations across Kenya to start working by 1st July 2010.
8 months down the line, these Kenyans have not been paid, and the new Professor at the PS’s office attempted to sack these people. This is scandal number 3. The matter is still not yet resolved and the Professors are busy crating more scandals.
The latest scandal- scandal number 4, is the new proposal to limit the admission of students from private schools into National Schools. From the blues the Professors have hit the country so hard.
These private schools have been vetted and given certificates to operate in Kenya in a unitary system of education where marks scored speak for themselves. How can a whole Professor and a team of Professors come up with such mundane thinking in the 21st Century?
Scandal number 5 is at the Universities where Professors give marks for sex. Ladies who refuse sexual advances from their Professors are given low marks while those who give in are marked highly. Marks for the female students have nothing to do with intellect. It has all to do with sex.
Scandal number 6 is about the security situation in the hostels. Students are loosing lots of valuable items to constant break-ins while our Professors are busy professing nothing.
Scandal number 7 is that our Professors have refused to profess for the country. We have no debates on national issues going on in our Universities. In the 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s, our universities were cradles of thinking. There were heated debates on national issues and one was proud being a student at either University of Nairobi or Kenyatta University. That has since died and the Professors are professing NOTHING.
I want to believe that these Professors are becoming a disgrace to their professions and it is time the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission moved in tom investigate these Professors.
Left unchecked, they will run the Education system in Kenya down and lay the blame on the top executive. If the Professors cannot profess simple things, let them pack and leave.
Peace and blessings to well meaning Professors, but not to the Professors in the Ministry of Education.
Odhiambo T Oketch
Komarock Nairobi
Maurice and Oketch
I will disagree with you on this matter. I wonder who would perform better. If we are dealing with academic matters we should take the role models in terms of how much one can perform in addition to their academic performance otherwise putting undergraduate in that seat would mean our children do not need to be professors to perform well. The matter of performance is more of an individual than academic issue. What i would propose is Kenyans to put in position those professors who can perform well. I would like to hear how many female professors are non perfomers. About sex scandles, you are all wrong. Even men who have never been to school will ask for sexual favors from house girls. Education has nothing to do with sex. This is more of nature than nurture. Men will always ask for sex favors from any female around them. About security is the security men issue. The only problem here is to be a professor is political so you can imagine those guys are politicians. The other question to ask ourselves is how did this misbehaving individual reach that level? Is it possible somebody assisted him to reach there? If so what do you espect. I know a few of those guys who could not add 1+1 and now they are called Dr so and so(nb: not medical doctor). This is why am saying being a professor depends on how one reached that level. In conclusion, the people of kenya should choose those people who are real brains and performmers but not political brains who have used their bodies and money to be professors or what do you think? Do we put secondary school leavers instead of these senior academic guys? If so it will save the parents from agony of paying for education and am sure it will also save the youth from agony of working hard academically to achieve those levels. With this type of thoughts i am sure even in our parliament we will have alot of primary school leavers since education has no value any more.
Rose
+254722672157
Give credit where due
Rose,
I have not read what Maurice said so I cannot conclusively respond to you.
However, I want agree with you that some people reach the status of Professor through means that are none academic.
I hope this is not the case with our Professors ruining our Education System in Kenya.
oto