[kictanet] Education and Our Future

Sun Oct 7 16:04:01 EAT 2012

Great thoughts!

I went through a school in the Rift Valley just a few years back, under a
head teacher we the considered "legendary", the late Kendagor (RIP). For
me, of course we realized much later, he was an embodiment of a teacher.
Pure dedication to the "cause", always looking to ensure his students
excelled, from sports to of course class work. This was a man who would be
up at 4 am to make sure all boys were in class in time for morning preps,
who would reward excellence and correct wrong doing, by the cane of course.
This was a man that practically all students then disliked, but whom much
later we came to adore as he shaped most of us to be what we are. All
ex-students agree that he takes most of the credit. And like Husseins grand
father, this was a man whom parents (society) always made sure he had all
support he required, the parents would go out of their way to guarantee he
had access to whatever he required, whether purchase of an ambulance,
funding for new structures name it...... Why? Because just like Husseins
Grand Father, the parents realized the need to make sure he had all he
required to ensure their children came out well schooled.

Do I think we appreciate our teachers? Do I think our teachers are
dedicated? I don't think so. We treat our teachers like the lowest cadre of
profession. We give them 3k increment spread over 5 years and we expect
ululation and jubilation from them. Could this be the reason why some
teachers in Daktari's village are the biggest businessmen, who only teach
once their businesses and farms are taken care of. Is it the case of them
wanting to supplement what they earn, or is it just the case of being
Kenyan? Kenyans especially in Africa are know for always seeing the
opportunity. And all Kenyans, from the ministers, to pastors, to traffic
police, to teachers to some university students will always have a side
business. Is it our nature or is our social structure not developed enough
to guarantee most of the skilled workers a comfortable life.

With all universities competing to own buildings in the CBD, and having
campuses in all regions, it has simply become the next big thing. From when
the module 2 studies pioneered by UoN to now, its all now commercial and
seeing who can attract the most private students who pay top shilling so
the university can generate extra cash. Again, maybe just being Kenyan, but
in my view in the wrong way. We have now obliterated almost all quality mid
level colleges and polytechnics in the hurry to turn them into University
Colleges. Whether they are doing a good job at education, is another story.
But these are some of the factors that are turning the education sector
into a commercial monster, not necessarily with good oversight to guarantee
quality.

As we try to better our education system (are we?) we need to look at all
factors critically, enable our children to be painters and musicians
without having the stigma at these "non-science" subjects. But again our
social and economic structure  must be able to support these careers.

Have a splendid educative Sunday!

On Sat, Oct 6, 2012 at 7:52 PM, Esther Muchiri <emuchiri at andestbites.com>wrote:

> Daktari
>
> Thanks for sharing your journey. I like what you said: "I fell in love with
> history of art studying architectural designs from such eras as Gothic,
> Baroque etc. I never pursued either history of Art or architecture because
> my friends stopped me.  Asking me questions like where will you work?"
>
> What if, during those days, there was a system that provided you with
> career
> information on Architecture? What if the system had a way of linking you
> with real architects who shared their real-life experiences and allowed you
> to job-shadow them? I am sure you would not have listened to your friends,
> and we would be admiring buildings in Nairobi designed by you! To me,
> linking our subjects (be it in high school or university) to the real world
> of work is what is missing.
>
> As we reform our education system, we must create these linkages - at the
> lowest level possible.
>
> Esther
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: bitange at jambo.co.ke [mailto:bitange at jambo.co.ke]
> Sent: Friday, October 05, 2012 11:25 PM
> To: Esther Muchiri; kictanet
> Cc: 'KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions'
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Education and Our Future
>
> Esther,
> Career choice is much more complex than we all think. When I was in grades
> school, I wanted to be a teacher. Reason. Teachers were the only people who
> wore shoes in our village. When I broke my arm and taken to hospital, I saw
> a doctor for the first time and I loved what they did. They were more
> cleaner in their white overcoats. And so I wanted to be a doctor.
>
> Later in life I came to Nairobi and visited an uncle who was a chief
> accountant. I wanted to an accountant too because my uncle seemed to be
> doing nothing but sitting and ordering people around.
>
> I went to US for college. Here I was made to study courses that had nothing
> to do with my dreams. Courses like critical thinking, philosophy,
> psychology, sociology, history of art, music  etc.  These were required
> before you chose your career of choice. I fell in love with history of art
> studying architectural designs from such eras as Gothic, Baroque etc. I
> never pursued either history of Art or architecture because my friends
> stopped me.  Asking me questions like where will you work?
>
> I should have done what I wanted. To date I get mesmerised when I see any
> beautiful architectural designs. I had discovered my talent but listened to
> short sighted friends. They perhaps did not know just like I was confused.
> I
> would have been the best architect.
>
> The import of my story is that our institutions rush our students far too
> fast to decide their lifelong careers.  Today we have engineers and doctors
> working as bank clerks. This has led to hyper inflation of educational
> qualification. Where work that requires high school level it is done by
> graduates. Where we needed graduates we have doctoral candidates. Where
> will
> this inflation stop?
>
> Let us reform our educational system.
>
>
> Ndemo.
>
>
>
> Sent from my BlackBerryR
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Esther Muchiri" <emuchiri at andestbites.com>
> Sender: "kictanet"
> <kictanet-bounces+bitange=jambo.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke>Date: Fri, 5
> Oct
> 2012 21:42:42
> To: <bitange at jambo.co.ke>
> Cc: 'KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions'<kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Education and Our Future
>
> _______________________________________________
> kictanet mailing list
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
>
> Unsubscribe or change your options at
> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/bitange%40jambo.co.ke
>
> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for
> people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and
> development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> kictanet mailing list
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
>
> Unsubscribe or change your options at
> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/andy.gesora%40gmail.com
>
> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/pipermail/kictanet/attachments/20121007/eff420b1/attachment.htm>