Raila writes to DCI, 12 other bodies over integrity of KCPE

The Star Kenya

ODM leader Raila Odinga has said he has written to the DCI and 12 other stakeholders including religious organizations and the teacher unions to stand up and ensure the integrity of national examinations is restored. https://shorturl.at/cuGU1

Transcript

00:00 over the decades. Kenya has had a reputation of a credible and trustworthy education system

00:09 that culminates in very rigorous, fiercely competitive, but eventually credible examinations

00:16 and certificates. Today, this respect for our education, in particular our exams, is

00:24 under serious threat. Kenyans are very much alive to the challenges that have been facing

00:32 the integrity of our exams in recent years. That is why our young people joke darkly whether

00:41 their colleagues have Professor Jacob Kayemenyes, Dr Fred Matiangis, or Professor George Magoha's

00:50 exam grades. Today, the young people are struggling with the value of Mr Ezequiel Machogo's grades.

01:02 In view of the fact in our position, you have today taken an unprecedented step and written

01:10 to key education stakeholders for a partnership to secure and defend the integrity of the

01:18 Kenyan exams and the certification that accrues from it. You have taken these steps out of

01:27 a firm belief that once we allow education and exam systems to be caught up in tender

01:33 wars, then we have no country to talk about. It is a universally accepted principle that

01:42 the collapse of education systems is the collapse of a nation. We believe that devaluing the

01:49 integrity of our exams and certificates presents an existential threat to our country, and

01:57 we have to close ranks and deal with it dispassionately and professionally. We will be subjecting

02:06 our children to ridicule, diminish employment, especially overseas, and admission opportunities

02:16 in the region and abroad if we allow the integrity of our exams and certification to be questionable.

02:25 And the truth is that these are getting questioned. We have therefore written to the following

02:33 bodies. One, the Catholic Bishops' Conference, two, the National Council of Churches of Kenya,

02:43 three, the Supreme Council of Kenyan Muslims, four, the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association,

02:51 five, the Primary Schools Heads and Teachers Association, six, the Kenya National Union

02:58 of Teachers, seven, the Law Society of Kenya, eight, the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education

03:05 Teachers, nine, National Parents Association, ten, the Kenya Primary Schools Association,

03:13 eleven, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, twelve, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations,

03:22 thirteen, the Federation of Kenya Employers. We know the role of churches and other religious

03:30 organizations in the education sector since the beginning of last century. We know how

03:38 much efforts teachers put into ensuring they mold young people into successful products

03:46 that they can be proud of. The education sector does not belong to the government of the day.

03:56 Integrity of the education sector is for all Kenyans. We believe that as a country and

04:04 for the sake of our children, we can do better than this greed beyond measure.

04:09 [END]

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