Reintroduce a-Level Education System Like Other East African Countries

Maurice Amutabi

24 June 2011

opinion

Nairobi — Education experts have been unanimous for some time that the 8-4-4 system of education should be replaced by the 7-4-2-3 system. The system has survived this far because of orchestrated campaigns by former president Daniel Moi and his cronies who regard the system as his legacy.

There are many reasons why the 8-4-4 system should be replaced.

It is estimated about 10,000 Kenyans are doing A-level in schools in Uganda and about 5,000 in Tanzania because of its advantages. The A-level phase helps students to decide their specialisation. Such students also make better career choices. A-level allows those who are strong in, say, science subjects to take subject combinations suitable to career choices.

Science subjects such as maths, chemistry, biology, physics and geography prepare students for degrees and careers in medicine, pharmacy, engineering, botany, zoology, education and more.

History, religious studies, English, Kiswahili and geography prepare students for degrees and careers in law, political science, sociology, anthropology, social work, criminology, peace and conflict studies, development studies, education and more.

An 8-4-4 student with passes in agriculture, history, physics, CRE, biology and music is understandably confused when he or she arrives at university compared to one with A-level maths, physics and chemistry who will head straight for the science degree options available.

Second, Uganda and Tanzania use the A-level system and students take only three years to graduate.

It is frustrating for many Kenyan parents to see their children forced to take one year of pre-university classes at Ugandan and Tanzanian universities.

Many Kenyan students cannot hope to join highly competitive degree programmes in Uganda and Tanzania because of the difference between the 8-4-4 and A-level systems.

High school graduates from the 8-4-4 system are often forced to sit university entry exams. There are very few Ugandan students in Kenyan universities because they see their education as superior.

Third, the massive inter-faculty transfers to other courses and confusion in programme choice is a result of ill-preparedness for university education by 8-4-4 students.

Faculty-hopping and course confusion has been a major headache for universities in Kenya where students enrol for science courses only to change their minds later and switch to the arts, and vice versa. It is not unusual to find third year students who have no idea what their major programme is going to be.

Fourth, the 8-4-4 curriculum encourages rote learning and research shows that the quality of writing analytical and interpretative papers has gone down. It is not surprising that A-level students with one or two principal passes who are admitted to mature entry degree courses outperform students from the 8-4-4 system.

Fifth, the 8-4-4 system puts students at a disadvantage when they seek admission to universities abroad as many countries regard the 8-4-4 system as inferior.

Finally, some scholars say the 8-4-4 system was a political arrangement meant to create a ‘balance’ by eliminating previous education giants which produced best results due to A-level classes.

Hundreds of schools literally collapsed when A-level classes were abolished with the introduction of 8-4-4. This removed the competitive edge and motivation that students in such schools looked forward to.

A-level education also created more national cohesion as students moved across the country to join A-level schools.

In contrast, the 8-4-4 system has produced “vernacular speakers” who know nothing else apart from their local neck of the woods.

Prof Amutabi teaches at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa.

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