National Assembly Majority leader Aden Duale on Sunday urged KCSE candidates to work hard to achieve good grades so they do not resort to cheating during exams.
He warned against any form of malpractice, saying there is no shortcut to life and learners must remain honest at all times. It's annoying and heartbreaking when students' results are cancelled after their parents have toiled to cater for their education, he said.
The Garissa Township lawmaker at Khalifa High School during a prize-giving ceremony. Parents, education officers, and local leaders attended.
“I want to give you some free advice first as a parent and a leader. The only way to achieve your goals is through sheer hard work and remaining committed to your studies, remaining disciplined and putting your eyes on the prize."
In last year's KCSE exam, the Kenya National Examination Council nullified the results of 961 students in Garissa county and about 3,000 from the Northeastern region. The majority of those affected were from private schools.
“It breaks my heart whenever I hear of results cancellation. It is not something that any parent would wish to see happen to their children. Going forward, let's all work hard — all education stakeholders, including leaders, parents and students — towards ensuring exam cancellation becomes a thing of the past,” Duale said.
He also appealed to Form 4 leavers to pursue education courses, saying teachers are assured of jobs.
“You need to make the right choices. It's a powerful tool that when used with consciousness, open possibilities that were never going to happen,” he said.
“It's an open secret that, as a region, we have an acute shortage of teachers. the solution lies with you, students. I appeal to you to join teaching colleges and take up jobs that are easily available rather than studying courses whose job market is hard to come by.”
County director of education Khalif Issack said the county has a shortage of 1,091 teachers.
Duale leaders from the region had unanimously agreed to fully sponsor all students who meet the teacher training requirements and would like to join the profession.
“Value the education of our children and, as a community, we want to a deliberate on investing in education for the future generations.”
(Edited by F'Orieny)
