The Raging GCE Exam Debate (Part 2): Conscientious Intellect and UnConscious Elitism

Sasse College Students

From L'Effort Camerounais



Louis Egbe Mbua

 Most established educational institutions in Cameroon may not accept a child who may not be able to read and answer questions on very difficult literature; not having financially viable guardians and parents; and have no profound grounding in mathematical principles. Added to that, the child must be able to write comprehensively at a very high level. The writer understands that all institutions have the right to set their entry requirements, rules and regulations. However, if the main criteria for selection are limited to a small group of individuals who are sure to pass examinations at the high end, then it is obvious that the purported normal distribution and spread would not hold.

While the outstanding performance of teachers and administrators as well as the conscientious attributes of the students may be commendable, all outstanding results are to be expected. However, as discussed in Part one of this series, this provides a false picture of that particular society because there are those who may be as intelligent but  may have conditions of learning difficulties or are not financially sound in their respective backgrounds; and that those admitted already possess social and financial advantages over the entire age range in that society. This enhances the latter's resilience and unshakeable collective confidence and purpose; and that the added perceived independence of means and thought is followed by this collective purpose which will boost their academic performance far surpassing the normal level; and levels that do not conform to the much argued Bell Curve indications. Consequently, almost all  students who may sit the GCE Exams will not fall within the range of highest three percent of normal distribution spread but may reflect a different phenomenon completely outside these predictions. Therefor, the real test of a high achieving environment is when all children from all backgrounds- wealthy or poor -- are brought together, given the same opportunity complete with first class educational facilities in that institution or society.

Checks and Balances

The reasons advanced so far in explaining success and failure in the Anglo-Saxon system has been based entirely on conjecture. This debate has raged and continues to rage in England and other countries of similar educational standards. Here in the UK, letters are written in the National Press and strong opinions advanced in connection to this controversy by concerned citizens. In one of those letters, a 1960s GCE candidate posted questions on Mathematics and clasics of his time; lining them side by side with contemporary questions of similar A Level Exams of today. According to the concerned citizen, the A Level has now been “dumbed” down since the questions that were asked the young people of today were far "easier", in depth and intellectual challenge, than those his own time. While one was almost ceratinly bound to agree with him, going by the questions, it would seem that children appear to attend school earlier in this day and age than was the case in the past. Thus, it may be not be valid to compare the intellectual maturity of 20 year olds as compared to a 16 year old child sitting the same Exams; and that knowledge has advanced since the 1960s so much so that the present students are bound to have much more breadth – debatable in relation to depth -- than was previously carried by the GCE old school.

A similar comparison could be established in Cameroon. It seems that students attend school younger in the present generation; and that there is official evidence that the academic duration has been slashed from seven to six years at the primary school level; and consequently rendering those sitting the GCE younger. The problem now is whether the GCE has the same strength in depth and intellectual challenge as was expected of students 20 years ago. This is a matter of concern as students attain very high grades than is expected. Again,  in England this matter has been circumvented, if not obviated, by the introduction of a super  A* Grade in their corresponding GCSE, an equivalence of Cameroon O Levels; and the GCE A Level , the same counterpart qualifications in Cameroon. Others have gone further and introduced the International Baccalaureate, as well as what is called the IGSCE, a qualification of what experts consider as of equivalent intellectual strength as the old London GCE O Level; and which is supposedly being sat in Cameroon. It is not clear how quality control is being implemented in Cameroon. So, it is hard to reach a conclusion as to whether the Cameroon GCE has become easier than in the past two decades.

A genuine method of checking and validating the intellectual balance of the A Levels is to follow the progress of former candidates. In some schools in England, they track the performance of their students after their A Levels: which universities they went to; where they obtained work; and how they progressed 5-10 years after their A Levels. While academic qualifications are not the only factor that determines success in life, it is a strong indicator on the other hand, and arguably the most reliable pointer to their institutions’ success; and their method of teaching. There is one thing passing with very high grades based on Exams and another matter altogether if the same students were provided with an all-round intellectual armament to cope with the trials in the real world. The writer is not fully conversant with the methods used in Cameroon in terms of checks and balances at present; but my Old school in Sasse track their students after leaving the College and make adjustments in their teaching methods as appropriate to ensure that the qualifications as well as the all-round education they receive are authentic. Again, it is unclear whether the Cameroon authorities as a whole follow the students’ progress after leaving school so as to find out if the qualifications so bestowed meet the requirements they were intended to. The writer’s casual observation is that the Cameroon A Level is respected here in the UK; and that students who arrived the UK with their A Levels were capable, and able to compete internationally in British Universities. But that was two decades ago. How they fair now is a recipe for research. How they perform in Cameroon Universities is also open to scrutiny in today’s world.

It is now an open secret that major universities in the UK have been complaining about fallen the standards in relation to the students that are enrolled into their venerable institutions. Employers are in the same mould asking questions as to the quality of graduates. Who is responsible for this alleged fall of standards cannot be easily discerned. Some universities are now instituting compulsory Examinations for certain “hard” courses such as Medicine, Law, Engineering and Classics. In special cases, students with top level grades are denied – controversially -- entry into top universities on account of their “failure” to meet requirements in designed interviews and university entrance Exams. A significant number of these “unqualified” students decamp to top universities in the United States, China and Hong Kong where they excel in the disciplines they were denied places in the UK.

In Cameroon, there is the tradition of sitting entrance Exams into schools of the profession especially in Administration, Engineering and Medicine – what is usually referred to as Les Grandes Ecoles inthe French system. While this may be a fair way of selection, it is also prone to bribery and corruption. Citizens in Cameroon, especially from the English-Speaking region (Southern Cameroons), have been complaining of incompetence, corruption and other professional misconduct especially from graduates from Ecole Normale d’Administration et Magistrature (ENAM), the Higher Education institution for administration. As a result, it is difficult to assess as to whether this lapse in professional and academic standards is related to poor educational entry in A Level qualifications; or that the institution itself does not measure up to opprobrious international standards. Additionally,  the significant majority of the graduates of this institution do not venture abroad but try their hands in ready-made government jobs spoiled with facilities provided by the ordinary Cameroon tax payer. This is not to discount other very able Graduates who have gone on to prove their worth into the world.

Political  Qualifications

In 1983, the Cameroon government attempted to alter the character of the GCE qualification at both the O and A Levels. The executive text to be implemented was designed to destroy these qualifications so that the minority English-Speaking Cameroon would be dependent t on their Francophone counterparts for education as is all other aspects in daily life as in Cameroon today. It is still one of the most shameful periods in Cameroon history; that a group of people would want to jeopardise the future educational well-being of children for purely insidious political reasons. This, gladly, did not work due to stiff resistance from Anglophone students at Yaoundé, the lone University at the time, and parents of the English-speaking region. However, the clueless government was determined to get his way in other areas in this sphere. So, they attacked the Vocational qualifications of the English-Speaking region (Southern Cameroons), destroying the curriculum that was based on City & Guilds Examinations in London; began teaching in French and replaced these well-tested and authenticated qualifications with questionable French-styled qualifications that have no international standing or merit. The result has been an educational disaster on a grandiose scale. Student failure rates skyrocketed to the edges of the curvature and thousands of lives destroyed with the elite Francophone having a totally misguided of  notion of “Anglophones are not as intelligent as Francophones”. This kind of warped thinking and implementation of an educational system renders any kind of analysis on the performance of students during and after their education totally without meaning; and that failure or success rates in Exams are not solely dependent on intelligence but on other disgraceful man-made rules bent on discrimination, mind control and clear machinations.

The Raging GCE Exam Debate (Part 1): An Anomalous Controversy

Louis Egbe Mbua

I heard the piercing sound penetrate the room, picked up the receiver and answered. It was my friend and classmate who resides in Saudi; questioning the authenticity and validity of what he termed “totally unrealistic GCE results in Cameroon” that defied well-known natural laws; and a complete violation of the much celebrated or berated; and hotly disputed Bell-Curve invention in inexplicability. In certain quarters, the Bell-Curve is considered the Holy Grail of statistical analysis while other radical thinkers have dismissed it as a great intellectual fraud. It is unclear as to who is right or wrong here. On the other hand, the incessant complaints by the older generation of GCE "Grade Inflation"; and the increasing percentage pass rate in the Anglo-Saxon educational world appears to create an atmosphere of suspicion as to the authenticity of this well-tested qualification – what the British call the “Gold Standard” of qualifications. Some posit that GCE has become easier while others explain that younger people have more learning facilities than the previous generation. Again, who is right or who is wrong is highly debatable and has been the source of vexed acrimony here in England and Cameroon.

In the days gone by in my native Cameroon, the GCE Examination was held in a much more sanctimonious reverence. People will point out to a child saying in awe: “look, that one obtained 9 subjects at the O’ Level Exams, he is going to CCAST, Bambili”; and “there is the other one, look, she's obtained 5 subjects at A Levels; she is going to University in England”. In those days, only the tinniest of minority of the total in the entire Anglo-Saxon World would approach such heights at the age of 16 and 18 for the O and A Levels respectively. In today’s digital world or post-traditionalism, a significant number and percentage of students -- that grossly violates the norm of Bell and his protagonists – far exceed excellence at a clearly younger age, especially in my native Cameroon and England. It is impossible, therefore, to ignore trends that bare close similarities in two nations 7000 miles apart, and located in two different continents; with completely different climates, wealth, and mode of living.

I was in a well-deserved holiday in the Midlands, England, in July when I got news that my nephew had passed his A Levels complete with a stunning A Grade in Further Mathematics, one of the most difficult subjects at that qualification. He is only 16! Needless, to recount that the writer sat and passed my O Levels at 16; and almost certainly indicating -- or apparent -- that I was two years behind the present generation  in intellect. I made a decision to inquire as to whether he actually obtained that subject at that grade; and how many he actually obtained; and whether it was true. The telephone discussions went after this manner:

“I heard you passed your A Levels. Is this true?”

“Well, yes”, he replied.

“Well done and congratulations!” I exclaimed over the phone; and trying to hide my astonishment mixed with great pride.

“Thank you”, was his quiet response.

“How many subjects did you sit; and how many of them did you pass?” I asked

“Well, all five subjects. I obtained an A Grade in Further Mathematics,” he said in a detached manner as though nothing had happened; and to add to my frozen bewilderment.

I asked no further questions. I also found out about my cousin in SBC, Victoria. “Oh, she obtained four A Level subjects in the Sciences”, they said. Well! That's it! I said to myself. This is Grade Inflation, I thought. Or is it?

While the intellectual world is busy explaining away – using conventional and sometimes outdated and questionable theoretical models -- the sudden increases in pass rates of young people in these examinations, there are crucial questions to answer in relation to this emerging trend. It is true that there is a natural tendency for aspects to fall within the 95-99 percent confidence limit in the Bell Curve, about 3 percent of those involved in this case would be at the top of the academic order while another 3 percent will languish at the bottom heap; scrapping the bottom of the barrel of academic attainment; the majority fitting within the bounds of normalcy in spatial distribution. However, this scenario is only possible if we assume that all situations must fit within these pre-meditated theoretical prejudices; and that all phenomena are exactly the same. Yet, if we examine the matter with the trained experienced eye of the world, we may have to agree that this is not always the case. There is no one fit all theory that may be used to explain all occurrences; as items and articles vary. That plants and artificial creations may follow established human laws does not mean that all human aspects must follow.

Firstly, humans have the advantage of motivation and self-improvement. Although these have limits, it is true that nobody actually knows this limitation. It follows that there are always the possibilities of circumstances that break through the agreed norms of theoretical predictions; and which would demand further studies to usher fresh explanations on overachievement by a vast majority at a particular time and specific place.

In my generation, the amount of learning resources were few and scarce. Although there were books, the lack of a variety of authors and material in particularly hard subjects were a handicap to learning. Established authors were few; and that if one could not actually understand the language and style of those authors, it became an uphill battle to perform to one’s highest academic potentials since there was nowhere else to turn. Furthermore, human resource in relation to traditional subjects such as Physics and English Literature was not as prevalent as this day and age. Few went to University to study these subjects. As a result, most lecturers in these disciplines were not graduates as opposed to this era. In the UK, there has been a Higher Education explosion in the last two decades tapping in on talents who have returned to the class room to boost examination results with their skills and training. In addition, this is augmented by the coming of the digital and multimedia age of computers, internet and other electronic gadgets that speed up learning. Students may take a complete course in programming and computer hardware straight from YouTube. This was totally impossible or unimaginable even as early as a decade ago when to attain these skills required that you attend lecture in a conventional classrooms in well-defined timescales with the financial implications that might ensue.

In my native Cameroon in particular, and Africa in general, there has been a paradigm shift in population distribution to the Diaspora. Many Cameroonians who studied out of the country act as inspiration; and mentors to the younger generation, providing an extra motivational boost to their already found confidence being advantaged financially and socially. It should be remembered that a low social esteem and lack of access to finance may put young and talented people at a disadvantage. Thus, elimination of these negative factors provides a comfortable environment for learning. In this case, therefore, the Bell-Curve phenomenon may not hold firmly; because one needs but the least of talent to attain full potential. Full potential is not the exclusive preserve of only the most talented and intelligent young people. Although the writer will admit that intelligence is random and spontaneous; and that it is totally independent of social birth, it should be stated that achievement heights are directly related to financial and social status in as much as intelligence. The higher the financial status a child may find themselves; and the better the social standing of their parents or relatives, the more chances they may full-fill their full potential.

Contrary to certain misguided theories, a child’s intelligence has no relation to the social standing or financial muscle of their parentage. However, their chances of debunking the Bell-Curve theoretical assumptions increases; and that they are likely to perform outside these predictions. The following is that the wealthier the society the more likely that the future generation will be overachievers whether they are highly intelligent or not. Mean time, more intelligent children who find themselves in a socially and financially disadvantaged position have already been defeated psychologically; and must work extra hard or must receive some kind of aid to attain their full potential in life and competitive examinations. There was this case I know in Tiko, Cameroon. This primary school girl from Duala was the most intelligent girl in the entire school; but I was surprised she could not go to secondary school due to lack of finances. I do not know how she ended up but by the time I was sitting my A Levels, she was still at home with little to do. A casual observer, not knowing her potential, will obviously believe she is not intelligent; a totally false and inaccurate assessment. Exceptional cases exist where these postulates may not hold but these are only in the fringes in this case.

There is the intriguing tendency, today, to chart the Darwinian path to archive results; and to offer reasons to explain complex phenomenon. The survival of the fittest that used to belong in the jungle is now an accepted resident in the major cities of the world. In the City of London and in Wall Street of New York financial Empires, the new self-appointed titles or self-proclaimed pomposity is that of “Master of the Universe”. How humans became Lords of the Universe without having created anything within or without their own habitat here on earth is indeed disturbing. In the world where people are made to believe that they are capable of achieving everything by dint of their background and “talent” is a new trend that deserves the keenest of scrutiny. Now, we have to believe that there are people of exceptional abilities in all spheres of our existence. However, if this criteria forms the main bedrock by which we select individuals into institutions of learning and the profession, then that particular institution will obviously excel since this will create a condition of a self-full-filling prophesy; and as a result will obviously burst through accepted conventions; and further break natural laws. In most established institutions in Cameroon and to a certain extent, the UK, this is the case.

Living in the 21st Century (8): Fooled By The Lion's Gold

Louis Egbe Mbua

And then the fool found rare gold

In his house it was not found

Because understands him not

The concept of morality;

Mutual consent he knows not

Since he knows but force savage

In execution;

Like an untamed beast living

Wild in the grassy plains, Africa’s

Gaming life athletics thrive.

Lions with arrayed leisured lives

Ordered in stepped hierarchy,

Organised for the survival

Of curious cubs;

Lioness the colour of pride,

A resemblance of real gold,

The fearless lioness as wise,

No fool but to feed her cubs,

And at rare times the young cubs,

The pride kills in ignorance but

So so ndolo*;

Do the young ones experience?

And rejection they know not.

Like pure gem do they prosper?

Alert! In their boundaries;

They defend with untamed pride

The last inch of ground they do

In savage style;

Attacks on their sworn enemies,

Ferocious in their gapped dens,

Playful are the agile cubs,

Catwalk the preying practice;

Grooming and silent bonding

His created nature, the lion

Is not a fool!

*Always love

Mola Njoh Litumbe in VOA on Southern Cameroons Independence

Cameroonian Statesman Mola Njoh Litumbe

Mola Njoh Litumbe in Voice of America (VOA); classic interview on Southern Cameroons Independence:


http://www.voanews.com/MediaAssets2/english/2010_08/butty-cameroon-southern-independence-litumbe-31august10.mp3

Ghana is The New Brazil

Louis Egbe Mbua

Not since we all watched the classic Cameroon-England quarter finals confrontation in Italia’90, has a match stirred so much passion, fascination and controversy as that between Ghana and Uruguay last Friday, 2 July 2010 in Johannesburg. Ghana has a pedigree in football that many fail or refuse to realise or recognise. In the days of the invincible Goal Keeper Mensah of Ghana to the of legend of Asante Kotoko FC and Hearts of Oak FC, Ghana has always had football talents in graceful abundance. The supremely talented Karim Abdul Razak, Samuel Opoku Nti and Abedi Pele are names that have instilled tremendous panic and fright in opposing teams in Africa and international world football. Incidentally, Abedi’s son, the immensely talented Ayew, was innocently yellow-carded by an incompetent referee in Ghana’s 8th final encounter with the United States of America. A keen football observer will note Ghana’s supreme skills in ball control, deft ball touches, accurate passes and undisputed style. All Ghana has to achieve now is to hone their striking skills in scoring technical goals as it appears they seem to fail to convert clear chances into goals in front of the goal post. Having said so, Ghana is a pleasure to watch. Brazil or any other team doesn’t come close in this tournament.

So, when Luis Suarez‘s deliberate handball on the goal line defied all laws of ethics in sports and profession, it was not only sad but extremely shameful. What Suarez did was a blatant and deliberate act of cheating unbecoming of a professional on the world stage, a monumental disgrace to football and a bad day for sports. It was made worse when Suarez was caught on Camera ecstatically celebrating the Gyan penalty miss. It appears there is a propensity to cheat in crucial matches in this World Cup which, so far, has been wonderfully hosted by South Africa. This writer is not sure how football is played in South America, whether cheating is glossed over in very important matches. However, in this world Cup, a Brazilian clearly controlled the ball with his hands twice and scored; the referee saw the dreadful unfair advantage but mysteriously allowed the goal to stand. Argentina scored a clearly off side goal last week; and Maradona cheated England in 1986 World Cup in Mexico when he shamelessly punched the ball passed a protesting Peter Shilton to score a handball. Furthermore, a Uruguay referee disallowed a clear England goal against Germany.

It should be made clear that such tenuous matches can be changed by one crucial mistake by a referee. The English players have had a mauling in the press in London since their unceremonious ejection from this World Cup. However, it has to be said that had that disallowed goal stood, one is sure that it would have regenerated England’s confidence, changed their tactical approach to the match, altered their psychological well being for the better in that instance; and that one is not in the slightest doubt that we could have witnessed a completely different match altogether in the second half. This same or a similar psychological syndrome must have affected the Black Stars of Ghana. Gyan’s missed the penalty seemed to have provided a psychologically crippling blow to the team thus causing two more players to miss their penalty kicks in the penalty shoot out that unfairly resulted after extra time in the thrilling encounter.

One is of the opinion that If cheating is the method invented so as to achieve greatness in football or other aspects of social, economic and technological development, then one would prefer Africans to remain "under-achievers" in these areas rather than to engage in a perfidious outrage; and questionable moral fortitude. The deliberate act of Suarez can be likened to a banker knowingly stealing money from his own bank when times are hard, and then given the chance to refund the money when he is fine.

To me, Ghana won the match squarely; and as a consequence, an automatic semi-finalist in this World Cup adventure. Whether Gyan lost the penalty or not is a matter of profound irrelevance because there should never have been a penalty in the first place. This was, clearly, daylight football robbery in every sense of the word, on the part of Suarez, a thorough indignity, a crime to football and a downgrading of himself as a respected footballer. It should be drawn to the reader’s attention that Henri has never got over his hand ball against Northern Ireland in the France-Ireland qualifier that effectively knocked out Northern Ireland from SA WC. FIFA’ failure to punish this ill-conceived act meant that players believed they can get away with using their hands when they see fit against all the rules of decency. Why can't we just name the sport hand-football? If all players were allowed to stop all goals within their reach with their hands, what will happen? Sending them off culprits every 10 minutes and then take a penalties? In this kind of blatant hand madness, as in the crucially nail-biting quarter-final Ghana-Uruguay clash, the goal should be awarded rather than waste time on a penalty which can go either ways -- miss or win.

Thanks Ghana (And South Africa as well as all other nations in the world cup) for your heroic efforts; and not reacting in a Machiavellian manner in this debacle; and to represent Africa with style and humility, keeping your dignity and talent. Tomorrow is another day. In today’s world of over-rated, overpaid and over here arrogant and petulant professional footballers, one is pleased that a quiet and striving nation continues to maintain the beautiful game. With more courage, support and encouragement, this writer believes Ghana will go on to win the World Cup at one point in the nearest future. Ghana began the match to independence of Africa. It seems the spirit of high achievement has not been destroyed. Other African countries should follow this example, doing what is right to their people and their various nations; giving to the world what is good, pleasant and just.

As for Cameroon, I have absolutely nothing to say in this instance since there is no word that has been invented to paint what one has come to consider as a display of the horrifyingly abysmal --not attaining a single point nor win or draw a single match! While it is difficult to rise in global and international prominence in any aspect, it takes only one to three hours to fall to the ground. The risks here are that falling may be perpetual; and that that one falls does not necessitate that one must automatically rise from their fall. Some fall and rise again while others fall and never rise again. While some fall by accident, others are the architect of their own downfall. In the former scenario, the victim has a higher chance of rising again since they fell unknowingly, while in the latter case, chances of their re-emergence is pitifully slim as a result of deceiving themselves into falling. However, we should give Cameroon credit for playing a clean and fair game without attempting to engage in an outrageously platitudinous hand-football or other forms of indecency of the game. That is sportsmanship.

Living in the 21st Century (6): Man and His Sun

Louis Egbe Mbua

A nuclear factory the Devine Hand flung
Into space the yellow disc afloat stays
In suspense, a mystery to man clung
In search of answers the straight rays
Bring onto earth: ninety three million
Miles adding in eight seconds a blaze,
Half the earth a shine to be gone
The light to the other side the earth rotates
In slight tilts, the slight wobble known
But no man a spinning feeling to gaze.
Round and around the earth spins
On its own axis forms nights and days;
Morning comes and evening returns
As the yellow giant around it spins in space.

In the middle of its core 15 million superhot;
Of two gases one from the other derived
From floating primeval hydrogen super gas
Under pressure another element created;
And the thermo-nucleus a dense fiery core
That explodes so all stars are renewed
With energy as light and heat radiates
Through the cosmos giving matter and life
On earth maintaining energy balances
So, man to see a reason to work and live.
All is in full harmony, are heavenly bodies
Created from dust of stars in the Universe
And from Devine dust the man emerges.
In the Universe the man forever will dwell
Until dust will all stars and man return?

Over and Over

Louis Egbe Mbua

If man was created
To work and keep
Earth’s abundance
Then this task has
To be done well
Over and over!

Repetitive work is good
If it is directed
Towards the greater good
Of man, woman, child
Affecting the entire
World in abundance

Again, a task done
Over and over again
Becomes part of nature
Because man is glued
To the earth to be
Duly recycled.

A catch does exist
In this strange cycle:
Recycling good things
Is of beneficence
But to repeat folly
Is to multiply trouble

Something is grave
In this world of ours:
One man knowing evil
But jumps into the same.
Any reason why a man
Throws away his lamp?

That question, I can’t answer
For there is no answer
But that a mistake can
Only manifest in darkness.
Thus in pure darkness,
Man learns not!

While in the dark
He pursues his wants
But a want in the dark
Can never be for all,
Since the vast majority
Of man is not blind.

Thus a man in isolation
May become blind while
a man of the people can
Never be blind:
Even if he sees not,
He will be led to light.

The fact of the
Matter is that
Though we may see
We become blind alone,
So we make same errors
Over and over!