Since the invention and adoption of formal education in our society, education has become a real equaliser between the rich and the poor in our societies.
The child of the poor has shared the same syllabus with the child of the rich irrespective of the school — public or private, they have sat the same final exam. There has never been a syllabus for the rich and one for the poor, neither has there been a final exam for the rich and another for the poor.
Formal education has enabled children to compete on fair grounds in a well designed system. This is equality and equity. With the emergence of Covid-19, The University of Nairobi and Chuka University have adopted virtual 2020-21 first years’ online registration, admission and virtual orientation, in anticipation of online learning to kick off as soon as possible.
This is not only unfair but an invalid idea for third-world countries like Kenya. Physical orientation of students is key as it shapes the behaviour of a student for the time they will be schooling.
It enables students to be familiar with their learning environment, teaching and subordinate staff and their fellow students. It’s very unfair for any university or any learning institution to ever think that all their students can access online learning.
Most of our villages don’t have access to electricity and network coverage, most of the village residents have to travel tens of kilometres to access network coverage at a cyber cafe. Learners should be able to access a good network connection so as not to miss out.
The government should set aside free community cyberspace social halls to accommodate the less fortunate who cannot access the Internet through smartphones or computers of their own.
Political activist
