EXAM RESULTS, MAD NEWSROOM DASH, CRAZY LISTS & INSANE ANALYSIS

Immediately after the announcement of the results for national examinations in Kenya, a mad dash ensues in newsrooms. The obsession of the moment becomes compiling a list of the top performers, and rankings, using all manner of parameters. And things can get crazy. Like how insane is it for the press to throw in a non-existent score, in the analysis?

In the published set of scores above, there's one that really stands out, among the outstanding performances.

Funny thing is that there isn't much of a big difference between that particular score and the ones before it, or even after.

If the top score is an 'A' followed by 'A-' then why would the editor throw in an 'A+' right after a bunch of A minuses? And bearing the same aggregate points an 'A-' performance?

Admittedly, it's not easy to put together such rankings at such a short notice, given that the information is largely sourced by making own contacts with parents or guardians of the students, because the government does not supply the data.

But due diligence and attention to details should always remain a top journalistic priority.

For allowing this error to pass through the editorial gatekeeping, this amounts to an epic fail.

FROGS, FACTS, FALLACIES AND FAKE NEWS

Reliable and credible news ought to be anchored on solid facts. And the press simply should not convey information. Value addition through interpretative or analytical processing is the now the accepted standard. But if this is not carefully done, the audience may end up being served with frogs, half baked facts, marinated fallacies and steamed fake news.

Whereas the screaming headline above grabs deep attention by suggesting hundreds of thousands of young people are not interested in getting their college education funded by the Kenyan government, it could be quite shallow in substance.

The state, would most likely finance the studies of students enrolling in either degree, diploma or certificate courses.

Out of  the over 600,000 who sat for the 2017 secondary school leaving exam:

- slightly over 69,000 attained grade C+ and above, the minimum university entry requirement

- about 100,000 got between grade C and C- , and these qualify for diploma and certificate courses.

- while over 350, 000 candidates scored between D and E, that makes them eligible for mostly craftsmanship and artisan courses.

This would be a good place to start looking for the 'rumoured' 500,000 who supposedly 'snubbed free college education'.

And while at it, bear in mind that the entire annual capacity for state-sponsored degree, diploma and certificate courses can only accommodate about 210,000 students.

Incidentally, not everybody who applied for financing from the Higher Education Loans Board in the past has been getting it, or the entire amount required, so it will take a lot of convincing to believe that the government is in a position to fund post-secondary education for all the 2017 candidates.

The state, most likely, would realistically be more worried by the nearly 6,000 qualified candidates who failed to secure university placement this year, due to inadequate cluster subject scores for their chosen courses, or the fact that they did not apply at all.

The fixation by a section of the local media with the figure of 500,000, is apparently then not as warranted, as the picture being painted.

Now what is left is the small matter of frogs.

Anyone out there who can croak a believable explanation?

KCSE, TRAGIC NEWS & A CELL PHONE NUMBER

Results for Kenya's 2017 university entry national exam have been dominating the news agenda. The fascination has largely been on who between boys and girls performed better. But then came the tragic news of a girl committing suicide because of what she perceived to be a poor KCSE score. The coverage in one TV news channel though, had a rather strange cell phone number.

In stories that contain a plea for help, a contact number is usually provided and often displayed, to help raise finances, especially if the case is a very needy one.

However, in this tragic news coverage in this particular TV station, there was no mention of an appeal for help in resource mobilization.

And yet a mobile phone number was being frequently displayed on air.

The Big Question is, what exactly was the intention here?

Whose number was it that it had to be given its own prominent space on the lower third news tags?

Send your responses and we shall sample some of them at the tail end of this year.

AN 'F' FOR MEDIA COVERAGE OF EXAM RIOTS

A week to the release of the 2011 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exam results, I argued the local media needed to get an assurance from the Kenya National Examination Council that everything was in order. And now, we have riots over cancellation of some exam results, which the local media is happy to highlight.



Based on past monumental errors linked to how KNEC had been discharging it's duties, I had urged the media to be proactive in seeking to smoke out any irregularities, and among other issues, help ascertain:

"That all cases of cheating and other malpractices have been validly identified, cross-checked and the fate of the culprits justifiably sealed."

It has since emerged that no KNEC official was present in Northern Kenya, to supervise the 2011 KCSE, and yet the cancelled results that sparked off riots, happen to be from the same region.

According to Capital FM, KNEC's Chief Executive says lack of security and inadequate staff prevented them from monitoring exams, which led to widespread cheating. In a way, does it mean  the dishonest candidates were encouraged by KNEC's shortcomings?

But back to my bone of contention, these are some of the issues the local media should have sought to expose, before the release of KCSE results, instead of only waiting to give immense and reactionary coverage to the aftermath of cancelled exam results.

And for that, the local media scores an F.

REASON FOR EXAMS SEASON OF ERRORS

In about a week's time, the 2011 examination results for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education will be released. If the past is anything to go by, there should be a number of administrative errors just waiting to come out of the Kenya National Examination Council's closet.

And predictably as well, the reactionary local media will ferociously put KNEC on the spot, for once again failing in its own homework, even as it oversees the grading of students and schools, based on their performance in the secondary school leaving exams.

Here is a thought though. Why shouldn't the scrutiny and media attention start prior to the release of the exams?

For starters, the Minister of Education can be asked or tasked with giving an assurance that the results and rankings he is schedule to release in the coming days, have been certified as being free from errors, human, computer, or otherwise.

That every mix-up in ranking of schools or individuals has been rectified.

That all the averages add up, that all A-grades are deserved and all failures have been appropriately earned.

That all cases of cheating and other malpractices have been validly identified, cross-checked and the fate of the culprits justifiably sealed.

That the KNEC website will be able to handle the expected surge in traffic, when the results are released, ad nauseam.

Or will this deny the media a revered opportunity to revel in the misfortunes of KNEC?