13. Formal Testing: East Africa a New Life Adventure


New things were happening at Kigari Teacher Training School also, new to me at least.  I found that as an Education Officer I became the invigilator. I was obligated to administer the final test for Secondary School Students. There was no way out. I had to invigilate this Gad-Awful test that defied every rule I learned in Test and Measurements Class.  The test must have been written in England without one reference to what the East African Students had experienced in their lives or school.  It set a standard that no one could pass with an A grade, like it was designed as a put-down for all African Students.  I had run into this before at the Teacher College when the tutors would sit down together to evaluate Student Teachers. There seemed to be a performance level carved in stone beyond the reach of ordinary people, for that matter,beyond the reach of the teachers  themselves.  I remember berating them myself, “That Jesus Christ himself couldn’t get an “A” out of their evaluation”!  In my experience grades were based on the performance of the group and “As” were given as a reward for a job well done, or given as an incentive for others to achieve.  My personal Motto has always been “if you can’t  use it you have not learned it''. 


Getting off the soapbox, other things were happening at the college…

The electric Mains finally were installed and we had full time electricity.


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