Simon Mwangi       

There is justifiable excitement in the country every time the Ministry of Education announces dates for releasing national exams — Kenya Certificate of Primary School Education and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education — results.

It hits the roof once the grades have been announced and media is awash with congratulatory messages for the top performers. 

However, those who do not perform well are left to nurse injuries, away from the media’s prying eyes.

Ordinarily, those who do not perform well have this belief it is over for them thus end up being very vulnerable on many fronts.

Truth is that they may be excellent in other fields which are not necessarily academic-oriented.

However, the razzmatazz and hubbub arising out of the celebration of top performers pushes this group into a dangerous mental state.

This is especially worse if they had expected to perform better than they actually did which could push them into drug abuse to numb the pain and seek acceptance.

The biggest purveyors of the false narrative that people’s destiny is defined through one-off assessments and grades in the name of national exams are none other than adults.

These are ironically the same people who are supposed to be providing hope, offering guidance and supporting the teens who did not perform well and re-assuring them of a brighter future despite their academic performance.

Academic failure and drug use and abuse are problematic aspects of the adolescent stage, and the connection between the two behaviour can disrupt the basic functioning of individuals and societies.

In our context, those who do not perform very well in secondary school, for instance, end up in tertiary institutions where they pursue what is wrongly perceived as less lucrative courses.

In this process they enroll for either certificate or diploma courses while their peers get slots in leading public and private universities where they pursue degrees which are, once again, erroneously viewed as being superior and sound gateways to high-flying careers and prosperity. 

It is at this stage that such learners begin to explore drug use which graduates to full blown abuse and eventually addiction.

The feeling of not being worthy or good enough fuels the urge to engage in drug and alcohol abuse to fight off the thoughts.

Surveys among primary school pupils — both in the country and elsewhere — have revealed that learners are introduced to drugs from the early age of 12.

These are young minds which can be mentored and easily weaned off such destructive habits especially when caught early.

So what is the way out of this situation? The responsibility lies squarely with educators, the society and all stakeholders since social status is what has placed premiums on academic excellence.

Providing opportunities to ensure such learners feel a sense of belonging and their realisation that they can contribute in more meaningful ways to society is key in preventing them from slipping to drug use and abuse.

Learners need to feel they are useful, thus for those who do not perform well this can be amplified through placing responsibilities on them.

In social circles, the ones showing talent in music can be given the duty to lead such sessions during family meeting or religious events.

The artistic ones can be inducted into mentorship programmes where they can be encouraged to nurture and grow talents.

Such tasks end up making them feel useful to society and thus keeping them away from deadly distractions such as engaging in drugs.

Many of those who failed in exams never forget well-intentioned adults who tried to help them get their footing.

While our education system has been configured to award achievement, we should strive to also inculcate the culture of rewarding struggle and hard work even when it does not materialise. 

Parents thus have a big responsibility of creating an environment where they foster the growth mindset in the children who do not perform well in exams showing them that success is a sum total of various components, failure included. — The writer is Corporate Communications manager, Nacada