Don’t kill your dream just as yet

Don’t kill your dream just as yet

Words by Francis Kahihu: kahihucareers@gmail.com

The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education results are eventually out. There is a lot of celebration in the air as former students, their teachers and parents pat themselves on the back for work well done. As cameras roll, many are reveling at the imagination of finally pursuing their lifelong dreams. As the media criss cross the country in search of the high performing students, little attention has been given to those who did not perform as well. As the parties rock both town and rural areas, there is another section of the society that is deep in mourning; the students who did not perform as well. Apparently, as though they sinned against society, no one is really interested in them. They have been forgotten to suffer in silence. They are actually a marginalized community that needs an advocate to speak on their behalf.

It is quite unfortunate at how our perception has been influenced by the education system. To many people, ones performance in the national examinations is equated to their value in life. Students who fail to make it with high grades are thought as poor, weak and are forced to pity their performance. To this end, our education system works towards generating ‘academic machines’ that only generate what has been fed into them. Any attempt to reproduce anything other than what would have been fed is loathed hence dimming creativity.

Failure in the national examinations is never a reason for someone to feel like their life has come to an end. How would life be if all of us were academic giants? It would be a very boring environment since we all would want to be in the lecture room sinking knowledge down the throats of others. Who would later in the day entertain us through drama and song, who would we watch play entertaining football? Who would mend our homes when they leak and who would transport the milk we need for the evening tea?

It is indeed foolhardy to imagine that we all have been wired for academic excellence. The truth is, even for those who are currently either been drilled or prepared for this year’s examinations should not commit suicide at the imagination that they will not all pass the exam. Actually, not all are expected to pass. The education system in this country does not envisage a time when more than half of the candidates will pass the examinations and be admitted to the next level of learning. That is why we have middle level colleges that take care of the vocational needs of the majority who fail to make it to universities or have no interest in the specialties offered there. It is worth noting those who are recruited to vocational colleges are not necessarily the failures who could not make it to the universities.

Depending on your career aspirations, failing at the national examination level should never be the death pronouncement for your career. As it has been said, there are many ways of killing a cat. If for instance you have all along wanted to become an accountant and have been unable to score the requisite grade to make it to Accounting School, you could start off the climb by taking CPAs and other related courses. In the course of time, you could register for Pre University classes that enable you to better your grades hence opening opportunities for you to pursue your dream career.

Should it be expensive for you to pursue pre university courses, never consider hope as having been lost. You could start at the lowest level in the profession and strategically seek to grow gradually. With persistence and concentration, nothing is actually impossible. You have the whole of life ahead of you and would only have you to blame should you throw away the baby together with the bath water.