[kictanet] Africa's Absence From The Table

[Phares Kariuki]

 i agree. its not awareness...i remember pushing another similar challenge
> from Microsoft, "Imagine Cup 2009" at Multimedia University. It got a
> serious mute response...i think our students from primary school are drilled
> to focus on and pass exams....anything that has little or no impact on their
> exam tends to be neglected.


> We seem to have failed to cultivate a culture of intellectual "activism" in
> our education system. When I was growing up we used to have something called
> "science-congress" where all high-schools would compete from district,
> provincial and finally national level to show-case their innovations. Not
> quite sure if this still happens..


I could not agree more. Science Congress still happens, but I bet if you go
for the science congress, the tin foil solar cooker will probably win "best
innovation" as it has for the past 20 odd years...

There is a general sense of only doing what is required by the system to
succeed. Innovation is really frowned upon. I think a sense of *learning* is
missing. Students are more interested in getting the degree than the
knowledge. I think this post by Sunny Bindra may explain it better than I
can put it in words. http://ow.ly/D0RY
-- 
With Regards,

Phares Kariuki

| T: +254 734 810 802 | E: pkariuki at gmail.com | Twitter: kaboro | Skype:
kariukiphares |
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