Standard 8 pupil at Lewa Primary in student-led exam prep in the KEY Library at Lewa Primary School
As the teacher’s strike continues without any sign of an agreement being met, many students are doing all they can to prepare themselves for the upcoming KCPE and KSCE exams – the national exams all Kenyan students must write in Standard 8 and Form 4. These difficult course exams are famous for the pressure they place on the students and the weight they have in determining the rest of a students life. If you do well in those few short days of writing, you may continue on to a good University. If you do badly, virtually all academic doors will close to you.
It is up to the students now, to conduct self-directed studying and review, if they want to do well on these exams. For those students who have access to a well-stocked library, such as students who go to schools that have received KEY Libraries, they have much more at their disposal. We have been seeing over and over again that at our libraries*, students have been coming in everyday, reviewing in small groups, researching answers to difficult questions, and conducting group mock exams and revisions with the smart board.
This goes to show how crucial a well-stocked library is for a school. It allows the students to take initiative of their studies when all of the other academic pillars around them falter. This is why KEY would like to see all schools in Kenya with well-stocked libraries. It empowers the students, gives them the tools and resources they need to succeed, and when critical academic structures are suspended, gives then a method to push through in spite of those obstacles.