Former Education CS Fred Matiangi at a past event. [PHOTO/the-star.co.ke]
Last year's form four results which recorded a mass failure with 92.7 percent not achieving the minimum university entry points led to much questioning and criticism from civil societies and individuals.
As much as it is difficult to give a standpoint about the issues raised concerning the mass failure, the concerns are valid and deserve attention.
Drawing from the performance students have posted in the past, it is unusual for an assessment to post a 92.7 percent failure to acquire a university placement chance and 55.49% scoring below D+ hence not qualifying for any post-secondary education and recruitment.
These candidates if left hanging could be a disaster in the waiting as the KUPPET secretary-general has put it. It will not be helping to realise the hundred percent transition as is needed but just making it worse.
The circumstances that surrounded the whole examination marking, analysis and release exercise as published in several editions of our mainstream newspapers are worrying and back up the questions being raised.
The markers are said to have worked under pressure, the results are claimed to have been released before marking was over and in several places in the country students who did not even sit for the exams were graded and their results provided.
In any formal education system, an assessment has to be fair, consistent and valid. Judging from the mass failure, the examination seems to have been unfair, inconsistent and probably not valid.
We complement the efforts the education ministry has put in place to restore integrity and sanity in the education sector.
However, the ministry needs to answer the questions being raised concerning the validity of the results and what is at stake for the candidates who do not make it to any post-secondary institution.