The 2022 KCSE examination results were met with mixed reactions from all and sundry.
I do not want to belabour you with stories about ranking that several citizens have erroneously tried to do yet the government abolished it in the recent past. I also do not want to write about schools that got genuine results or the ones that cheated their way to peak performance.
What is important is to give an objective view to those who got results, good or bad. Without good guidance, many form four leavers succumb to jaws of defeat and despair.
I am concerned about most form four leavers because as a peripatetic teacher, I visited several secondary schools in 2022 to roll out talks and training services.
Every candidate desires to rise to the top. Think of a building with several floors. When you want to go up, you have three options: use the lift or escalator.
Students who scored grade A and B in KCSE automatically use lifts.They become veritable academic giants who have kaleidoscope of possibilities and infinite spectra of opportunities. Due to stellar performance, they have chances of joining prestigious universities to pursue coveted courses.
Conversely, students who get Cs climb to the top of the skyscrapers using escalators. They may not be lucky like those who scoop As and Bs, but with the right mindset, they can be successful.
Academically speaking, the journey to the top is sometimes tedious and tiresome for those who score Ds and Es. It is not easy to ascend to the thirtieth floor of a big building using the spiraling staircase.
I pensively remember the sob story of one of my lecturers who told us how she started with a certificate course, then proceeded to do a diploma, degree, masters then PhD. She became a success story because, on her way to the top, she never lost hope.
I would like to encourage form four leavers to read Why ‘A’ Students Work for ‘C’ Students and ‘B’ Students Work for the Government by Robert T. Kiyosaki.
The putative author starts that heroic book with the wise words of Albert Einstein: “Everybody is born a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, then it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
This implies that children are not the same per se. ‘A’ students are academics. ‘B’ students become bureaucrats while ‘C’ students are entrepreneurs who carry the torch of capitalism and create jobs. Interestingly, some of them end up employing ‘A’ and ‘B’ students.
We should not write-off form four leavers who score mediocre grades in KCSE for God has a plausible plan for every person.
Jeremiah 29:11 states: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord: plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
In conclusion, all form four leavers should know that KCSE exams enhance transition from secondary to tertiary levels of education. The grade garnered is not the final say.
Isaiah 43:18-19 admonishes us to forget about past things for God does new things. He makes a way in the wilderness and provides water in the desert.
Form Four leavers should let bygones to be bygones. KCSE is not the end of life. Form Four leavers should come to consciousness and ask themselves the quality question: What next after KCSE?
For those who scored grades As and Bs, they have an open door to pursue glamour-tinged careers in universities. On the other hand, those who scored Cs, Ds and Es have chances to pursue diploma, craft and artisan courses in Technical Vocational Colleges (TVCs).
Life is a journey not a destination. Talents, gifts, skills and character also contribute to success.
By Victor Ochieng’
The writer is an author and a public speaker.
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