Lets have a sober discussion. The stand off between the teachers and the government has gone on for too long. I remember the first great strike back when I was in Std 3. I also remember the then President, Daniel Arap Moi visibly agitated and shouting on TV Hakuna pesa, hakuna pesa, hakuna pesa!. For teachers, under the late Ambrose Adongo to defy the Moi government and go on a long crippling strike, it took guts. The pain of their oppression was greater than their fearfor the powerful dictator who did not stomach any defiance. They stood up to him nevertheless. Some of my agemates now have children who are in Std 3, the same class we were when teachers first went on strike during our lifetime. Teachers, in most instances the same teachers who taught us, are still complaining of the same grievances. The government continues to play hardball. The student continues to suffer. The teachers strike is just one aspect of many problems that face our education system today. Each year, we churn out graduates of the primary, secondary and university institutions and a large number of them, close to 800,000 each year will not get formal employment. Instead they will either seek to become manual labourers or stay home and add to the ever growin list of unemployed educated young Kenyans. If only our education would be taken more seriously. If only we could teach our children to create jobs rather than seek employment. If only we would teach our children to innovate, to question, to be curious, to seek solutions. If only we would deviate from the current meritocracy that has children scrambling to program their heads with answers for a national examination that will forever define their destinies, and seek to have a system that makes the child identify the problems that face society and solve them. As we pray that the teachers and the government come to an amicable solution, I believe it is time to overhaul the system. In order to compete with the rest of the world, we must change the way we think and learn. Empower the teachers to empower our children. By 2030, these same children will be coming to knock at our doors seeking employment. I am honoured to know some amazingly passionate educationists, what do you think, is it time for us to act? Where shall we begin, great people?
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 09:39:39 +0000
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