Days after the 2022 KCSE results were announced, candidates who performed well are still in celebratory mood as they bask in the afterglow of a triumphant run buoyed by good genes, fine teaching and, for the most part, grit.
And then there are over 30,000 students who scored grade ‘E’. They cower faceless in the dark, their fate mentioned in hushed tones.
For most of these students, especially from county and private schools, the grade will not come as a surprise as they are likely to have consistently under-formed academically in both primary and secondary school.
This is something Ayub Simba Njagi, Charmin of Kenya E Graders Association, a registered group of those who scored grade E in their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), knows only too well.
In Kenya, grade E is considered a death sentence in one’s academic and career life — and often attracts scorn from friends and even family. Those who score grade E are seen as failures in life.
“That’s why we formed the group in 2015. Many students have been scoring Es in KCSE, and the number is increasing every year. Sadly, many of us have been ignored instead of being congratulated for completing the race like others. We therefore we came together so that we can have a platform to plan our future,” Njagi said.
Njagi, who sat the exam in 2011, believes many students who score grade E are not given a chance to explore their talents, something his association is trying to champion so that they, too, can become productive members of society.
“I sat down and researched on how people like me move forward in life. I shared my findings with colleagues, who assisted me to come up with the association’s constitution before registering it,” he shared.
Njagi says parents of such students should stand with them and guide them on to the next phase of life. He cited a student who emerged tops in KCSE despite scoring only 190 marks in KCPE.
“Unlike before, our education system allows such students to start from artisan courses and climb the entire education ladder at their own speed.
“They will eventually make it like some of the leaders we know who have used the same route to success,” he said.
