Sam Vidambu

Current location.
Ndumberi Girls in Kiambu County.
I am here to speak to form threes.
I was here two months ago to speak to form fours.
The Principal has invited me to talk to form threes about importance of discipline, study habits and content retention.
I will also talk about the relationship between discipline in school and performance at work place ten years from today.
To invite me in your school to give a thought-provoking and mind-blowing talk on importance of discipline, how to maintain discipline, relationship between discipline in school and performance at work place ten years from now, study habits, revision techniques, reading cultures, content retention and intensive revision whatsapp 0743 480435.

EFFECTS OF STRIKES TO FORM THREE STUDENTS.

By MR Sam VIDAMBU.

If you are a parent and you have a child in form three 2026, kindly read this to the end and forward to other parents.
This is important:

1. The Repeating factor.
8-4-4 system started in 1985 to replace 7-4-2-3. The last class of 8-4-4 is now in form three.
They will do their KCSE in 2027. Being the last group in 8-4-4, they will not be able to repeat form four and redo KCSE.
There is no way a form four student who did KCSE exam will go back to grade 12 to do the KCBE assessment.
It will be impossible.
This means that the current form three students should be the most determined to ensure they have adequate time in school keeping in mind that they only have one shot, there is no reverse gear and there are no two ways about it.

Form threes should yern to be at school more so that they can have more contact hours with teachers in school to clear syllabus on time, to retain the content well and prepare for the KCSE exam.

2. The Job factor.
There is a reason why 8-4-4 system is called 8, 4, 4.
8 years for primary school, 4 years for high school and 4 years for university.
CBE was introduced in 2017 December. The other name for CBE is 2:6:3:3:3.
2 years for PP1 and PP2. 6 years for primary school. 3 years for junior school. 3 years for senior school. 3 years for university/tertiary education.
The form three students have 6 years to graduation i.e form three + form four + year 1 + year two + year 3 + year 4.
The grade 10 students students have 6 years to graduation i.e grade 10 + grade 11 + grade 12 + year 1 + year 2 + year 3.
This means, if all factors are held constant, form threes and grade 10s with be released to the job market the same year.
This will be advantageous to the first CBE class and disadvantageous to the last 8-4-4 class.

Everyone believe that CBE is more practical than 8-4-4 and so the employers will want to see the practical aspect of CBE graduates at the work place.
I am not scaring the form threes, I am spitting facts. Six years from today, the employer will be reluctant to hire 8-4-4 graduates. They will wait for the CBE graduates because they believe they are holistic, focused on 21st century competences and have personalized learning pathways.
Someone said 'new is always better'.
What will make the employer hire the 8-4-4 graduate and not the CBE graduate?
You must have done extremely well in class and have the best papers.
How can you focus and do well in class when you are thinking about burning the dormitory?

3. The Election factor.
10th of August 2027, from 6AM to 5PM Kenyans will participate in general elections.
They will vote for president, governor, senator, woman rep, member of parliament and member of county assembly.
The Ministry of education, under the able CS, Waziri Julius Ogamba Migosi stated that from 2027 academic year each term will have the same length. This most likely means that term one will run for 12 weeks, term two 12 weeks then term three 11 weeks.
Since time immemorial, calendar year has 35 weeks.

Schools are used as poling stations. This should be a concern to the current form threes.
In 2027, second term might be disrupted and shortened due to the general elections.
See, IEBC field officers, temporary officials, returning officers and clerks always undergo decentralized cluster level operational training at designated local schools where poling will be done.
This means that schools might have to close second term early to pave way for IEBC training and preparations for the general elections. This will affect students' preparation for KCSE because they will be at home at a time when they should be at school.

Constitution of Kenya 2010, Article 138, Clause 4 and 5 states this:
(4) A candidate shall be declared elected as President if the candidate receives--
(a) more than half of all the votes cast in the election; and
(b) at least twenty-five per cent of the votes cast in each of more than half of the counties.

(5) If no candidate is elected, a fresh election shall be held within thirty days after the previous election and in that fresh election the only candidates shall be--
(a) the candidate, or the candidates, who received the greatest number of votes; and
(b) the candidate, or the candidates, who received the second greatest number of votes.

This should be a concern to the current form threes because if no presidential winner is announced the first round it means we must go to vote again after 30 days. This is what we call runoff, ballotage or two round system.
30 days after 10th of August 2027 will be Tuesday 9th of September 2027.
Remember, third term is supposed to begin the last week of August in 2027.
Again, because schools are used as poling stations, term three 2027 will be shortened. For any KCSE student, form four term three is the most critical term because students are preparing for their final exams.

For those of us who were there in 1992 and 2007/2008, we pray that whatever happened DOES NOT repeat itself in 2027 because it will affect the KCSE candidates in the worst possible way.

From admission in form one to when KCSE starts in form four, students are supposed to have 140 weeks in school.
Imagine this scenario;
A student lost two weeks in form one term two due to nationwide floods, lost another one week in form one term two due to unrest in their school, the student lost one week in form one term three due to teachers' industrial action in 2024, the same student lost two weeks in form two term two due to strikes, they lost two weeks in form three term two due to strikes, lost one week in form four term two due to strike, they lost two weeks in form four term two due to IEBC training in their school, they lost three weeks in form four term three because of runoff.
In total, the student lost close to 15 weeks out of school due to strike, unrest and tension in school. 15 weeks which could have been used for syllabus coverage and content retention.

To all form threes in 2026, as your uncle, I beseech you, don't burn your dorm, don’t cause chaos in your school. In any society, there are challenges, but there are better ways of getting solutions rather than burning, cursing and destroying. Stay more in school. Be close to your teachers. Pray for our country Kenya. Pray that 2027 presidential elections are peaceful and it ends in the first round so that we do not go for a runoff.

Winston Churchill said 'Pessimists see difficulties in every opportunity and optimists see opportunities in every difficulty'. Remember, success happens when preparation meets opportunity.

Win today, win tomorrow, win everyday.

By Mr Sam VIDAMBU (0743 480435).

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To God Be The Glory.

Vidambu is a professional academic mentor with over 5,500 high schools in Kenya running his academic programs.
His Academic Mentorship Programs are about content mastery skills, content retention techniques, content delivery approaches, proper revision strategies, proven reading cultures, practical study habits, instensive revision tactics, sustainable academic systemes, discipline, among other great topics.
He is a Trainer of Principals during KESSHA conferences and teachers.
He is the President of Global Student Mentorship Center, He is an author, and a Tutor.
To Have Vidambu launch the Candidates Academic Mentorship Programs in your school and be a Class Mentor kindly call/text/whatsapp 0743480435 (Sam Vidambu).
He has physical individualised holiday programs. To mentor your child on discipline and academic excellence whatsapp him 0743 480435.

Kindly Forward This Article To Whatsapp Groups of the Teachers, Parents and All The Principals you know.
To Be Added To His Whatsapp Group Full of Principals and Teachers To Receive His Mentorship First Before Anyone Else Kindly Whatsapp His Number (0743480435).

You Are Blessed.