Could 2022 KCPE Results and 2022 KCSE Results Release Mark the End of an Era for CS Magoha? How CS Magoha Foreshadowed the end of his tenure as the CS Education just before the Release of 2022 KCPE and KCSE Results. Read between the lines
CS Magoha recently predicted the end of his term. The no-nonsense CS will be remembered for ushering in an era where all Kenyan learners are equal but differently gifted through his stand on the implementation of the new Competence-Based Curriculum, CBC.
The CS has also steered the ship- the education sector through turbulent times especially the spread of the Covid-19 virus that paralyzed the education sector for at least six months in Kenya.
It is during Professor Magoha’s tenure that the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education KCPE examinations and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education KCSE examinations were conducted in March/ April as opposed to November.
The CS now seems to be priming himself for retirement this year after he alluded that this is his last exam.
“This being my last examination, I would want to [tell] Kenyans that we developed the container system that has delivered credible results. Our qualifications are respected worldwide,” he said today in Mombasa.
“The incoming administration should know that no condition is permanent, but our children being in school is and therefore should not change the existing plans because they don’t like the person who initiated it.”
As he leaves, his tenure will be scrutinised, for he was in charge during a significant period in the history of education in Kenya. A lot has been happening in both basic and higher education and his tentacles have been all over, from launching ECDE classrooms to dissolving university councils he deemed errant.
Prof Magoha has extolled his efforts (while chair of Knec) to curb runaway cheating in national exams.
This was done in conjunction with his equally bullish Cabinet colleague, Dr Fred Matiang’i, who was then heading the Education docket. They roped in the ICT ministry and, once more, our examinations have regained respectability. The new administration must not drop the ball.
Prof Magoha has been a strong defender of the competency-based curriculum (CBC), whose implementation has drawn mixed reactions from stakeholders. Its opponents have trashed it but the professor, whose specialisation is in the medical field, never fails to state that “CBC is here to stay!”
He has been defensive of the outcome of the policy, saying he would rather have learners in congested classrooms than out of school. It is unlikely that the 10,000 classrooms that the CS aims to have added to secondary schools by the time he leaves will have much effect in resolving the problem.
There have been loud complaints from principals and MPs over how the classrooms were allocated, with a feeling that already established schools have been greater beneficiaries.
Prof Magoha has probably traversed the country more than all his Cabinet colleagues as he seems to believe in the dictum of ‘management by walking around’. However, his travels have also generated some negative news, as when last year he publicly berated a senior education official in Uasin Gishu County and called him “mjinga”.
As he leaves, education journalists will have different opinions of the man. There are days he will be friendly with them and others he will state from the beginning that he will not field any questions “even the one you are thinking about”.
Unlike his colleagues in the Cabinet who, at times, communicate through their verified social media accounts, Prof Magoha is not known to have one and only parody accounts in his name are active.
His Lands colleague Farida Karoney (a former journo) once organised, on his behalf, a media breakfast with him to help ease interactions. But when Prof Magoha rose to speak last, he reminded us that he always speaks his mind, like him or hate him.
It is unlikely he will join politics because voters need to be seduced, cajoled, and at times politicians do absurd things to please them, antics that are out of Prof Magoha’s depth.
Whatever he chooses to do after August, he will have left his mark, depending on who you ask and where they stand. There are those who cannot wait to see the last of him and others who will miss him when he leaves Jogoo House.