EFFECTIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT REQUIRE GOOD PERFORMANCE IN MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE

Kenya will be celebrating 50 years of Independence this year. It is therefore a critical time to evaluate the performance of key sectors within the country with a view of re strategizing in areas where the performance has not been impressive.

As a developing country, we are still struggling with socio-economic challenges of high level poverty, disease, rapid unsustainable population growth, inadequate social amenities and high rate of unemployment especially among our youthful population. Despite the outlined challenges, the Government has from time to time come up with policies to address some of these issues albeit with little impact in some sectors.

It is already known that solutions to some of the problems our country is facing lies with effective adoption of research based interventions through an effective research and development system. Experience from countries such as South Korea and Malaysia who were at par with Kenya at independence but who are many miles ahead of us show that well-structured forward looking science and technology policies could be the panacea. Many of these countries under studied ST&I policies and practices and adapted those they regarded as suitable to their situations. In many countries that have successfully leveraged their economies by using ST&I, their starting point was a re evaluation of their education systems with regard to the teaching and learning of Mathematics and Science in lower and secondary school education. In my opinion, I want to suggest that we may have to seriously ask whether with our low performance in mathematics and science we are going to effectively deliver the Vision 2030.

In my view, our education system must address the luster attention given to Mathematics and Science especially at primary and secondary school education levels. The notion that mathematics and science belong to the ‘tough’ and are restricted to ‘special students and teachers’ need dismantling. Such a mindset though rampant have given a majority of students at basic education level reasons to avoid taking these subjects therefore weakening the national science and technology foundation. It is not strange to find students with very impressive scores in social subjects having very demeaning grades in mathematics, biological and physical sciences which impact negatively in their career choices at technical and university training.

Indeed the Government recognizes that Science, technology and Innovation is a critical driver of the Vision 2030 based on its cross-cutting role across key sectors of the economy. Such a recognition require policy backing that with enhance promotion of mathematics and science in lower and tertiary education sectors that will create the required momentum from below to the higher cadres of learning. It has been shown that rapidly developing countries commonly known as the Asian tigers whose economic growth have been driven by effective use scientific technology and working innovation systems have some of the highest student mathematic scores. These countries managed to attain and sustain their development by adopting programs that encourage teaching and learning of mathematics and science in primary and secondary schools. In addition to that program, they had came u with reward initiatives that provided incentives food performance for mathematics and science teachers and scholarships or bursaries to students in those subjects. My appeal is that our education system adopt some of these program to promote mathematics and science education in the country. 

Currently the Annual Kenya Secondary Schools Science Congress Competition offers a platform for promoting Science in secondary schools. This event allows students to think and innovatively apply science principles in solving everyday life challenges. This is not only laudable and a program that should be nurtured and supported by all but should be expanded to encompass both primary and university students. From my experience with the Secondary School Science Congress, the supported provide to them is not only inadequate but the coordination provides a challenges to the organizers given the many activities that teachers are involved during the school term. I would propose that if possible, the activity should be domiciled within the National Commission for Science and Technology for more effective coordination. More of such contests should also be encouraged among schools within and outside counties. Above all, the national government should develop programs that will build teachers capacities in handling the subjects to increase performance in students. Already organizations such as Centre for Mathematics Science and Technology in East Africa (CEMASTEA), the National In-service Education and Training (INSET) Centre for strengthening of mathematics and Science in Secondary Education (SMASSE) in Kenya are trying to promote Mathematics and Science teaching and learning within the country and in the regions. More teachers should be supported to benefit from such programs.

Overall, strong Mathematics and Science background will lead to many benefits among which will include; demystifying science especially among the general population, directing young mind to take up careers in critical mathematics and science-related areas such as engineering, medicine, ICT, environment and climate change, nanotechnology, nuclear physics and biotechnology among others.  Those with graduate degrees can then proceed to postgraduate training and become scientists and researchers thereby improving the country’s inadequate quality human research capacity required for effective Research and Development.

As shown by most developed countries, effective innovation systems driven by a robust R&D sector depend on a population that have a strong background in mathematics and sciences. We are already importing engineers to fix our infrastructure and exploit our natural resources, are short of adequate doctors and are running late on cutting edge technologies such as nanotechnologies and biotechnology important that hold answers to some of our problems. If Kenya is to catch up with the rest of the rapidly developing world, we have to rethink our education system especially in the critical area of improving our performance in mathematics and Science starting at the lower level far back to the kindergarten. We are already late, so let get moving.