Growing up in the 1980s and 1990s was an absolute pleasure. We were the last generation of kids who truly knew how to be kids. Remember cleaning desks with sand paper and glass , then gets stolen when preparing for your finals.. hahaha
The KCPE exam preparation is probably the hardest hurdle in the 8-4-4 system.A lot of students dread it and passing is considered a great feat.However it can be passed.
The little kids in class 8 has to deal with this societal pressure that’s out to reward top performers of 3days KCPE test after 8 yrs of thorough studies. Unfairness and insincerity! pic.twitter.com/Hj9KCPedlL
— RETIRED COMRADE (@retired_comrade) October 29, 2018
To pass your KCSE/KCPE one needed to prepare early.The exam tests the syllabus of years therefore there is need to consider it right from grade one .Starting early also enables you to recognize your weak areas and work on them.
Back then going to a class for the final exam it was said your desk needed to be spotless clean and pupils deviced all forms to clean their desks , some used sandpaper , some used glass , some went even further to wash their desks .
The KCPE period was very respected and even the junior classes below used to talk to you like your the Governor and even pleaded to have your desk once you left school .
This was no time to revise , if you know you know if you don’t you pretend you know , the after life was the thing to think about .
Then some went around writing all slogans ” i was here” as if your ancestors will be coming soon.
Some took it further to pick phone contacts and asking their friends to write in a blank book , who you were .
I dont even think some of my friends actually called me , some ive been hunting for years yet their so grown we pass by in towns and they look at me and im ” dude im not gay”
Leaving school was one of the most historic moment that nobody could despise .The world was beginning to open before our eyes.
I used rubber, but I was holding a razor with the other hand which cut me as I rubbed some stuff on a piece of carton I used as a “cardboard”. That’s how I got a scar in my hand to date. And it took me 30 mins to start, the paper.
— Bernard Koech (@KoechBernard) October 29, 2018
Soon there were no more boring parades where you were supposed to answer or chop grass for the rest of the day .
P.E. was no longer to be sabotaged by that math teacher who was in the rush to finish syllabus when you had already planned and divided yourself to play
Why should learners be tasked to clean their desks? What happened during the learning process?
— Wayne Chavulimu Kalika (@w_kalika) October 29, 2018
Closing day was a momentous occasion for the school to capitalize on the free labour they got from pupils. We would be charged with cleaning the school. Anyone who was smart and not afraid to wake up early would get to clean windows.
I stole a clean desk after my classmates cleaned them?????
— Maryanhamooy (@hamooymaryan) October 29, 2018