The point am trying to drive is this........Masomo is not everything but without it there are doors that remains closed forever.

I feel that is the case for Bonnie.Maybe those sponsors would like to give him a serious job in an NGO but for lack of some basic certs he is technically knocked out and remains their KYM for street demos.

Ask yourself,why did he feel the urge to do the exams?What void is he trying to fill?What opportunities has he missed coz of lack of the papers?How much better would he be if he had some papers??

These results should give us reason to worry as much as we were by the cheating that was recorded. I do not believe that these examinations measure cognitive capability, for a number of reasons.

First, if Kenya’s youth and most privileged generation since independence is only capable of an average grade of D, then we must ask tougher questions of ourselves. Is it conceivable that with all the teachers in Kenya and the public spending that a majority of young children in Kenya are barely literate and demonstrably innumerate?

'MACHO' VIEW

I am not sure that the answer is yes, because I do not think that the average youth that I meet is a dunce as the grade distribution suggests. Because, as the results show, four years of dedicated learning at the point at which the brains grows at its fastest rate should yield a grade curve much different from the one that I see.

A couple of years ago, I had a conversation with an economist who suggested to me that there is a very big disconnect between the teaching in Kenya and the kind of examinations that students sit for.

In her view, Kenyan examinations are set with a “macho” view that examinations are supposed to be exhausting and result in very few passes while the quality of teaching doesn’t always match.

Hearing Fred Matiang’i state yesterday that only 10 per cent of students or fewer should ever attain the top grade in any subject reminded me of this discussion. In this view, every examination must result in a stratification of students between the smart and the not so smart by ensuring that top grades are attained by very few.

This is a convenient aphorism, but there is no evidence in education studies that an arbitrary 10 per cent must attain the top grade for the examination itself to reflect the distribution of cognitive ability in a given class.

Our Intelligence Service Agents have tentacles in every facet of our Nation and beyond.

They are aware about the con games but their mandate curtails them from preempting detected con games.

They, like the Auditor General, EACC, and various other counter con game agencies in this Our Land and Nation of Kitu Kidogo and Unjambazi are denied arrest and prosecutor powers by The Constitution.

A friend tells me that people like Hon. Michuki (RIP), Hon. Karisa Maitha (RIP), John Githongo, Michael Joseph, Dr. James Mwangi, and now Dr. Matiang'i et al are (were) so successful because they have (had) developed links and excellent working relations with current and former Agents of the Intelligence Services.

In 2015 the top school had 9% of the countrywide A count. In 2016 the top school has 18% of the countrywide A count. To me the results look more skewed.