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The Kenya Certificate or Primary Education results just got out, and so did all forms of emotions: nervousness, frustration, excitement, overwhelming devastation, name it. But whether your child passed or not is not my focus in this article. The question is, so what next? Did your child excel? What next? Did they perform on average, or did they fail? So what? 

Not knowing what to do from here could mean that you’ve hit a wall, and that may not be such a good thing. Or what do you think are examples of causes of stress and depression? Having no way out when things do not go as you expect could easily set you or your child on a path through depression, and for some, this can cause more harm than good. 

Let their dream guide their steps

Give your child the assurance they need regardless of their results. Remember, they could have performed very well, but are still not guaranteed the school of their choice. I know a boy, well, he’s now a man, who passed well enough to join a national school. However, unlike his brother, who had joined Starehe Boys’ Centre, he ended up in a district-level school, somewhere off Jogoo Road. The boy, Dan, was so devastated, he lost focus and barely passed the time in school. 

I met Dan when he was in Form Two, performing poorly and on the verge of losing his only sponsor, who was my boss at the time. “I think he’s got into drugs,” my then boss said during a conversation where he asked me to have a word with the boy. The short of the story is that we discovered that Dan had completely shut down because he felt he would never realise his dream while in that school. 

Their blueprint already exists.

Give your child as many options as they can get to achieve their dreams. Take them through variations of possibilities and let them be comfortable with any they choose. The last thing you want is to unknowingly push your child toward a career direction that will become unfulfilling for them. In the end, let us remember that they already have what they need to become successful.