KCPE RESULTS-MURANG'A

The results for the 2012 KCPE  were released today by the Minister and my home county has improved marginally from position 41 in 2011 to 36. While this improvement is commendable, i believe that alot can be achieved in Murang'a and here's why.

1. While poverty is a reality in many parts of this county, it is not as pervarsive as other counties and with a poverty index that is better than the national average. What this means is that our children are able to go to school, have a meal at lunch and get basic learning materials including books.

2. In the 1980s, Murang'a embarked through harambees the task of building more schools both Primary and Secondary for our children and therefore i believe that no child has to walk for long a distance to attend school. This ensures that our children are not undully tired when they arrive in school.

So with this advantages and may more, why do our schools continue to perform dismally and what can we do to remedy the situation?

a) Security: Security in the county is poor this is affecting the students in terms of their parents not being able to invest and improve their lives economically. The solution to this i believe is to bolster security patrols by the police and establishment of active security intelligence networks. Though the duty of security provision is vested in the National government, the elected leaders in the county must lobby the government to take the matter seriously.

b) Alcoholism: The major social problem in the county is alcoholism. Alcohol has contributed to low investment in the school going child by parents who contribute neither money or time in the development of their children. Its a proven fact that children whose parents take an active role in their lives generally perform better all round. So the solution to this is to encourage parents to go easy on alcohol and help bring up the next generation of leaders.

c) Attitude: Alot of parents nowadays think that since the government is taking care of education through " free primary and day secondary education" that they don't have anything else to do. This is a big mistake. A casual observation of schools both private and public that perform well indicates that the parents participation in the school is high. Participation includes follow ups on how the child is faring in school and discussing progress and remedy with the teachers, ensuring that the child completes and does their homework and provision of incentives to the teachers.

I believe the leaders who will come into office must ensure that education is a priority and the county education office will be staffed with dedicated educationists who have passion for child development.