Education Is No Longer A Key To Success In Kenya.

Growing up in my rural village many years ago, I remember clearly my primary headteacher telling us every Monday to study so hard so that we can be able to a join good secondary schools which was like a breakthrough of pursuing good courses at the university. An entry to the university was every parent’s prayer as it was a sign of success and to be specific wealth. It was the most precious thing that joining the university could make a headline in the village.

There was value in education with every graduate receiving the respect he or she deserves as appreciation of hard work. What happened to Education as a key to success is a puzzle that everyone is trying to solve. In a country where the primary schools drop outs, KCSE grade ‘D’ graduates, sorry to say are advising and lecturing First class honors graduates on how to cope up, survive and succeed in real world is an indication that things are changing and the norm is no longer normal.

As an engineering student at the University of Nairobi, Kenya’s premier University, I have spent 5 years in class and engineering labs acquiring skills which I believe are relevant in the corporate world and necessary in the job market. Unfortunately, my work is being offered to a diploma or certificate graduate who is not only believed to be affordable but also easy to handle, demote and fire anytime without an explanation.

Any graduate has a prize on his head which employers don’t like. There is no longer respect and honor in education. The degrees and academic papers are only admired by those who do not have them and the majority who have the qualification are a disappointed lot because the papers they are holding are not adding value to their life. In a country where without a ‘god father ‘you will walk around with your degree or masters until social media or a good Samaritan comes to your rescue is a society which does not value education.

Ever asked yourself why a son of an engineer will pursue engineering, a daughter of a lawyer with pursue law and an economist will make sure his child goes in the same field? It is called maintaining the roots and strengthening the plant. What of that poor son or daughter who hails from a rural village somewhere with no god father or no one in the field he or she studied. Will that poor child ever be employed? Is there hope? What happened to the respect of the mighty degrees?

Having a tall relative has not only killed the basic foundation of employment criteria but also weakened the educational systems of the country. That is why it is no longer a surprise to find an engineer working in a hospital as a nurse, a theologian owning an engineering consultant firm and an anthropologist advising people on what they should do with their money. It is not your qualification anymore it is who you know.

What now?

I think it is a high time our lovely teachers stop feeding children at a young age that Education is opens the door to success. It no longer the key to the door; it is a key to the gate of success; more is needed to get to the door of success and who knows maybe that padlock got lost. Having a lot of knowledge in class is not a guarantee of success in life. Passing all your exams and getting a first-class honor is not a surety of securing a job in Kenya. Our children should be advised and nurtured to be smart both in class and outside class. Let a student not got to games with a C.R.E test book pretending to be reading for exam, let a student not go to drama, environmental or journalism clubs with a physics encyclopedia pretending to be the most hardworking person. the society we are living in does not require hardworking and bright people, it needs intelligent and smart people fully of diversity who can discovered what is not taught in school.