By Kennedy Buhere
The Principal Secretary for University Education and Research, Prof. Micheni Ntiba has said that accomplished men and women called upon to talk to students should avoid talking about abstract things to them.
“It is important to let students know about their lives; the paths we have taken up to where they are,” Ntiba argued.
“Don’t talk to them about how important mathematics or physics is,” Ntiba noted.
Talking about the crucial importance of Mathematics, Physics or any subject the students are studying is useless. Their teachers talk about this almost every day anyway.
He made the remarks when the Cabinet Secretary for Education Amina Mohamed invited him to speak to high school students at Jogoo House recently.
The students had visited the Ministry under the auspices of Pupils Reward Scheme (PURES Village)—a mentorship project that benefits bright students from across all counties.
Prof. Ntiba’s conviction that public speakers talk about where they came from, the hills and valleys they travelled when addressing students is appropriate.
The students or young people are looking for inspiration, for motivation, for reasons to persist even if the going is challenging.
And true to form, Ambassador Mohamed talked to them about the first day she joined class one in Kakamega Primary School.
How her older brothers chased her away from the school gates saying she was too young to start attending school. How the career she eventually opted for was decided for her by reading for Sherlock Holmes detective stories in the School Library at her primary school.
The Cabinet Secretary did not take a cue from Prof. Ntiba’s principle of public speaking to students.
She has before talked about her own life in school at various fora a where students and parents have been.
Students of Kiambu Boys High School sat in spellbound silence when she talked about how determined her parent saw her through schooling.
The Principal Secretary for Early Learning and Basic Education, Dr. Belio Kipsang, assumed the father figure in his response to questions.
Dr. Kipsang assured them they too were parents with children their age.
He said the planned changes are for the good of the children who are the future of the country.
“The Government cannot do anything to hurt any of its children,” he added.
An additional reassurance of the fears that the students have was from the Principal Secretary for Vocational and Technical Training, Dr. Kevit Desai.
He sought to allay fears that the lives of over 500,000 students who got C grade and below were at risk.
“There is no failure in any educational system. We have Technical and Vocational Training institutions which will take care of the interests and abilities of the students”, Desai noted.
“I am a living example of what TVET can do,” Desai told the students.
