BONYO'S BONE: Dear CS Julius Ogamba...

Once again, I pick my bone with Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba. Education is in crisis! It is in a mess, and clearly the principal head of the ministry seems to be in the same crisis and mess.

Education, globally, is famed as the foundation of any great nation. Fundamentally, it is the building block. It drives the economic prosperity, social progress, and political stability of a country.

A strong, accessible, and quality education system is essential for shaping a productive and prosperous future. As it is, Kenya’s future is being bungled right from Jogoo House B, the citadel of the ministry.

The character, skills, values, and competence of this nation are being drained away from the comfort of the Ministry of Education. The current education system in Kenya today cannot be equated to the famous engine of decent work and a guarantee of prosperity.

Most painfully for students in school and their parents, the Kenyan education system cannot forge for them a lasting pathway to inclusion and equality, just as the United Nations expects it to be.

Mr. Ogamba, your nearly two-year reign of the education sector has been nothing short of pins and needles for students and a bundle of nerves for their parents. They are confused, distressed, and full of angst.

Your handling of this precious sector betrays the calls to move Kenya from a third world to a first world country. It betrays the journey to Singapore and instead is curating the perfect Swahili sentiment of “shinda hapo.”

Every single day you appear on television in an attempt to make excuses for the mishmash in your ministry, there are parents and their children hoping you could just get down to work.

Julius, you have given too many excuses in the last 539 days. Now settle down and do the work. Going to school and learning need not be a burden to any child or their parents. But in your reign, this seems to be the new normal.

Teaching in comprehensive schools is bahati na sibu… If the teachers are there, there aren’t enough books. If the books are there, the teaching staff aren’t enough.

In junior school, subject matter experts are as few as integrity in public service.

In senior school, the incompetency in its handling is an open and sour wound. Your directives are devoid of thought, tact, and direction. And thus, when you say the government is clueless on the actual cost of educating a child, we are not surprised.

Tonight, the cry of parents and their children is not only the wailing of distress, but a case of a society reaching out to you. A society asking you if the burden is too much to shoulder. A people questioning your intent in providing leadership at the Ministry of Education.

The calls to be heard and solutions provided are an indictment. If you sort out the mess in the education sector, you will have a renewed social contract with the people of Kenya.

They have reached out: fix the financing mess, seal the teaching gaps, and most important bring quality back to education.

In their 2007 hit song “Do You See Anything to Smile About,” reggae musical group Morgan Heritage asks, “How can a nation believe in this way…. How can a government play so many games?”

I ask you, Julius Migos Ogamba, to take your time, listen to the song, and tell us if you see anything to smile about in the education sector.