Jomvu: Jomvu Member of Parliament Badi Twalib has proposed the introduction of private examination centers in order to improve schools' mean grades in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education, often affected by absent candidates. Speaking during the celebration of the sterling performance in KCSE of the first cohort of secondary students sponsored under the National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF), Twalib said that absenteeism lowered the mean grades of schools in the constituency despite efforts from hard-working students.
According to Kenya News Agency, Twalib highlighted absenteeism as the main cause of poor performance in most schools. He mentioned that students, after registering for KCSE, absconded from classes only to reappear to sit for the national examinations. Twalib urged parents to ensure their children attended classrooms so as not to affect the overall performance of the schools in the region.
He cited disparity at Kajembe High School, where the top student attained a B (minus), while followed by 43 D (minuses) and 50 Es, drastically derailing the school's overall performance. Twalib announced plans to start private centers, stating, "If your child does not want to study, he must not pull others backwards." The MP vowed to visit all the schools for consultative meetings with parents to ascertain the root cause of the problem.
Meanwhile, the secondary scholarship programme, initiated in 2021 and targeting students from vulnerable families, has yielded fruits as the first cohort, who sat for the KCSE in 2024, performed well with a 95 percent transition to University. The legislator noted that most of the parents' income is hand-to-mouth, and they were unable to pay for their children's secondary education fees.
Twailb stated, "We have been able to sponsor them in secondary education as they transition to university. We will not leave them as long as we are in leadership. We will ensure they fulfil their career objectives." The MP is banking on the students to churn out professionals who will be assisting society.
"The next batch will have 40 students, and we expect them too to excel. I have been monitoring them for the four years they were in secondary school," he said. Twalib expressed satisfaction with the increase in the number of students transiting to university in all the secondary schools, commending teachers and parents for their concerted efforts, stating, "We do progress; we don't retrogress."