MoonKi
You have this mildly irritating tactic of using obscurum per obscurius in your pedantic arguments. Luckily I have plenty of time now and will pursue it.
There is a reason institutions such as Universities insist on certain quality of grades for purposes of admission etc. In this case KCSE has proved to be a very unreliable Entrance Test. I recall Pundit suggesting that Kenyan universities set up their own entrance tests.
Now let's look at your claims:
That is one half of the point. Now that you yourself have made it, I hope you get it.
I believe you are insinuating that since students get admitted and go through university and earn grades there eventually qualifying to be surgeons and lawyers then that absolves KCSE from blame and effectively means the cheats did not cheat!!!
My response: There is cheating in universities too. The media quoted a university lecturer on this recently (not that we didn't already widely know). Stories of
sex for grades are well known even to you unless you seek to conjure ignorance.
i. To suggest that a person who cheated through KCPE and KCSE will suddenly stop cheating at university is a bit of a stretch.
ii. To also suggest that having gone through university and earned a degree is proof of that person not having cheated is simply preposterous
But one more time:
(a) Presumably, the universities teach, give exams, and pass people accordingly. In all of that, high-school grades are not relevant.
Do they teach them English Grammar as well? As for "passing" see above. Like I stated earlier the focus should now be on universities where I believe the greatest and most abiding rot resides.
That said, I believe you are still pursuing the already discredited line of argument that claims if a person has gone through university and earned a degree and been admitted to the roll of advocates, surgeons or engineers, then he could not possibly have cheated in KCSE or other exam.
(b) The professional bodies too, one imagines, work on the basis of criteria that have nothing to do with KCSE grades.
Your imagination is wrong. All the professional bodies insist on a minimum KCSE grade or "equivalent. In any case the admission to university prior to that would have ensured the fulfilment of that precondition.
The fact that some Kamau or Njuguna turns up with fake As opens the door to not only the university but to these professional bodies. God only knows whether the corruption in the rest of the education system has by some miracle avoided the bodies you seem to hallow and sanctify.
If (a) and (b) are not happening, then the real problem has no connection to KSCE; nor does the necessary corrective action have any connection with such grades. So it is absurd to claim that "The fact that As lead to entry to some of the most sensitive professions in the country is cause for worry."
I never thought a day will come when a person of your caliber would defend cheating and exonerate cheats. It is amzing that you would seem to suggest that KCSE is irrelevant and plays no role in the education of a surgeon who is probably now operating on some kid at Kenyatta National Hospital. I am shocked. Note that this is the reason I do not consult young doctors in Kenya especially those who sat for exams in the post Moi era.
I have clearly demonstrated the connection between the fake grades and our institutions of higher learning. These sensitive professions are most vulnerable because they admit "the best" performing students, in our case As which turn out to be fake. In 2016 for instance, they admitted 3500. in other words all As (which we now know are fake).
- 2016 number of As is 141
- 2015 number of As was 2636
- 2014 number of As was 3017
- 2013 number of As was 2722
3. I consider what Matiang'i has done cosmetic. CORD upon taking power will launch a more comprehensive reform that will go to the very foundation of Education. I can see many certificates being recalled - even from some people here.
CORD (and especially ODM, the key party in that coalition) should first work on reforming itself before its stalwarts indulge in such dreams.
As long as you are not a member is letter and spirit I doubt we can take your unsolicited advice seriously. CORD and especially ODM are on the way to power.
5. I disagree.
Which part do you disagree with? That you have been caught---which is obvious---or that you should retract the questionable statements?
I have made no "questionable statements.
PS. Had you stated that lack of spoken English skills alone is no indicator of cheating I could have bought your argument. I know many highly gifted engineers who cannot fully express themselves in English etc (verbally). They however still deliver.
What we have in Kenya is something that can destroy the entire country as we used to know it.