The Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) has castigated Health CS Mutahi Kagwe for making nurses’ English results public.
On Wednesday, CS Kagwe said 290 out of 300 Kenyan nurses who took an English test for UK jobs failed.
KNUN deputy secretary-general Morris Opetu and KNUN Kisumu branch secretary-general Ann Owiti accused Kagwe of exposing nurses to public ridicule, saying this might lower the confidence of Kenyans in the health workers.
Opetu further questioned how only 10 out of 300 nurses passed the exam despite Kenya being an English-speaking nation.
“I don’t agree that nurses failed the English test. All the years nurses have been in school, they speak and are taught in English. It should come with facts. Exams, be they British or Kenyan, are a private affair not to be discussed in public. We should not be embarrassed and looked down upon by other health workers,” Opetu stated.
The nurses are set to be employed in the British National Health Service (NHS) under a bilateral labor agreement between Kenya and the UK.
The MoU on the Kenya-UK Health Workforce Collaboration, which provides a framework for the exchange of healthcare workers between the two countries, was signed during President Kenyatta’s visit to London in July this year.
Labor CS Simon Chelugui said Kenya will be sending at least 20,000 nurses to the UK to address a shortage of 62,000. There are nearly 900 Kenyan nurses presently working in the UK public healthcare system.
The first cohort of between 1,000 and 2,000 Kenyan caregivers was expected to leave for the UK in mid-October.
The white person is loving…
The white person is loving himself to death for black people fighting each other over his language.
Iam not sure if the intent…
Iam not sure if the intent was to “embarrass” the nurses.If it was then shame on CS Kagwe.In this day of immense sensitivity,political correctness,and scrutiny,anything someone say even if not with malice immediately garners a backlash.
If the nurses had scored with flying colours, the same people would be proudly showing off their results.
Some of you may remember that there was atime in Kenya when form 4 results were learned in the dailies.Only those who passed in division 1,2,3and four,ithink were published.So if you name did not appear in the news paper every one knew that you failed.Wow!talk of embarrassment.
With or without results being made public,there is always alevel of disappointment,and shame.But this is more a function of poor performance than of results being exposed.
That said,Iam confident that these nurses can all score well on “functional english”,and most would of course surpass that level,which is enough communicate with a patient or another professional,and for that matter anybody who speaks English. Infact those who might score high may present an accent that mzungu find troublesome than those who scored high.So are they going to be tested on acceptable accent,and pronunciation,that is acceptable in this case to wazungu in UK?
If we keep on breeding “these soft,and overly sensitive” generation,we shall create a culture where failure is a always a shame,and not something to learn from.
I end by quoting one of the great minds,again.The only way to avoid making mistakes is to have no new ideas”
Bon voyage est je vous souhaitez bon chance to allthe nurses that will he heading to UK.
Sounds like you are one of…
Sounds like you are one of those people who walk around with their noses up looking down on other people. So them white folks have trouble understanding my accent. Fuck them all.
My experience is that folks will understand you if and when they have to.
Your logic is upside down.
Have a good day!
Thanks you .You have a nice…
Thanks you .You have a nice accent.
@mushoe! Just reading your…
@mushoe! Just reading your shit makes me walking around with my nose high up and looking your damn ass down stupid fella! Your reasoning equal that of a hymaphrodite chicken! You sound just stupid!
Of course the world must…
Of course the world must know if you can read instructions or not! You will be dealing with medicating patients! How do you expect anyone to trust you If you can read prescriptions? Nonsense! You embarrassed yourself fir being a dummy! Give Mutahi a break! Embarrassed my ass!
Only less than 10% of the…
Only less than 10% of the nurses (both male and female) passed the English test? 99% are just dummies who have been killing patients with the wrong prescriptions!
Holy moly! Where did they go to school? Surely not in Kenya! Maybe Uganda or Somalia! And maybe in Sudan!
And some now say they have been embarrassed? I beg your pardon? Good grief! 10% only passed! Evan any chungurira will pass an English test in any street of Nairobi! What a shame!
They all need to be fired!…
They all need to be fired! They are a danger to Kenyans! You can’t read, you can provide the right medicine doses!
Stop the blame games! Mutahi did not teach English! Blame yourself for being an idiot!
These stupid secretary…
These stupid secretary generals are the idiots! Give them the English test so we can see if they can pass the damn thing! Blame yourselves for being useless secretaries!!
Don’t support laziness and apathy attitudes. Only in Kenya damn fools blame others!
Fire all of them including…
Fire all of them including the shitty secretary generals! They have no grounds to complain!
Kagwe apatiwe hiyo kizungu…
Kagwe apatiwe hiyo kizungu tuone atapata nini. Upuusss. Kwani kizungu ndio inadunga sindano???
Nonsense @mary! You sound…
Nonsense @mary! You sound like a damn nurse who can’t pass english! Stop thinking like an ignorant person! Is Mutahi going to England to work as a nurse? Don’t be stupid and foolish! Why don’t you go take the test fir all your dummy friends!?
@ MARY why blame Kagwe ? the…
@ MARY why blame Kagwe ? the kenya education system has to blame . Those who want to study in Britain or USA have to sit for an English test . Kagwe on his right can announce the result and don’t you think he is proud that they did not pass . One has to prepare onself very well . Now that they know what kind of exam it is they can prepare themselves they are allowed to sit for the exam as many times as they can they only have to pay but 27,000 is not cheap . and @ Maxiley it is not the accent for british it is if you can be understood you cannot compare how we speak english with Indians for example we are more understandable and Indians and they too do get work in britain irrespective of their accent. ( talk about embarrassment how many times do i read in our newspapers’ i.e the woman was praising his husband” the man said her wife” or the man WHICH did this or that = THIS WAS AFTER THE SCHOOLS ABANDONED THE RIGHT GRAMMAR BOOKS” result of 8x4x4 system . Kagwe you did not do anything wrong am sure you are ashamed too that so many could not pass
You dont think an accent…
You dont think an accent acan make you not be understood?By the way just a proposition I made that,some nurses can score high in that english test,bu posses an accent that is hard to understand,so should they get “accent competency”.
A good skilled nurse will excel regardless of that test. All these Cuba doctors here,I believe are not all “excellent” in English,or any local language,but Iam sure that does not impede their performance.At least drastically.
All know Kenyans graduate…
All know Kenyans graduate are undercooked and some even carry fake certificate bought from lecturers.
All know Kenyans graduate…
All know Kenyans graduate are undercooked and some even carry fake certificate bought from lecturers.
???????? their biggest issue…
???????? their biggest issue with this is that they were embarrassed???? Lord help us in Kenya. We need God’s intervention
Kagwe is an ugly cunt that…
Kagwe is an ugly cunt that reeks shit.
Nobody has any business testing you if s/he did not train you.
The “colloquial they were tested on has no bearing on their performance as nurses”.
This rectangle of a head called Kagwe still thinks the “White” man knows it all.
Give the nurses a syllabus, a trainer and let them compete fairly…OK?
In the meantime you may lick any White, Brown. Yellow or Black ass of your choice, never drag our top-notch medics with you: Mr rectangle of a head, with circular brain.
“The “colloquial they were…
“The “colloquial they were tested on has no bearing on their performance as nurses”.Thankyou @Ineo.
If you want anyone to succeed you have to train them in what you want them to be. The exam should have been about nursing judgements not silly British language.
Has it occurred to anyone the British perhaps are not willing to have Kenyans working in their country despite agreement? This could be one of their tricks…just like bringing religion and bible to Africa leading to colonialism. We as Africans should not be buying into these kinds of tricks. Kenyan nurses are smart people working under tough, unsupported conditions with very very limited resources. Let’s wisen up and support our own.
Second, this is not the time…
Second, this is not the time to export nurses. Anybody whose main work involves cleaning,pulling, pushing, watching or… just taking orders must not be EXPORTED to be enslaved by Arabs,Chinese, Whites etc. Let them remain in Africa so that the the slavemaster can do their own menial tasks…
Kagwe can export himself and do sentry exams as a gatekeeper in London…Or Qatar
Kagwe is an ugly cunt that…
Kagwe is an ugly cunt that reeks shit.
Nobody has any business testing you if s/he did not train you.
The “colloquial they were tested on has no bearing on their performance as nurses”.
This rectangle of a head called Kagwe still thinks the “White” man knows it all.
Give the nurses a syllabus, a trainer and let them compete fairly…OK?
In the meantime you may lick any White, Brown. Yellow or Black ass of your choice, never drag our top-notch medics with you: Mr rectangle of a head, with circular brain.
What comes to mind is that…
What comes to mind is that Kenyan nurses do not update themselves with healthcare developments at all – new technologies, innovative ways of thinking, improving health. If they did, they’d easily pass English. These people don’t do any annual trainings to keep their jobs?
Here comes a damn cna…
Here comes a damn cna advising her stupid superiors! It surely is that bad folks! Even @ceneca got a mouth to talk while she can’t pass ENCLEX to save her life!
Wewe nilikutema! you are…
Wewe nilikutema! you are beneath me. You can change your monikers…but your pedestrian reasoning has not changed. FYI, I am not a CNA – Lots of respect for CNAs earning their keep honestly – and have never been nor will I be a nurse! Let go…lanes,
Lanes, Lanes, my friend. Okay
Zach has his job at the…
Zach has his job at the morgue. Just don’t worry about him. What’s wrong with being a CNA if it brings food to the table? If our mediocre Nurses fail English language and we’re here writing in that very language, what sort of logic are you advancing by standing on the same side with English failures?
Kenyan nurses should not be…
Kenyan nurses should not be embarrassed at all. Their primary way of communication is by Kiswahili. Granted they have been taught in english but they mostly conduct dailies with Kiswahili. We have not seen what was in the tests. A failure in an english test is not a measure of intelligence nor how well a job can be done.
On the other hand, if a govt is going to do such deals, they then must have healthcare as a priority. There should be consistent upgrading and ensuring that nurses, doctors are well rounded.
Were the Cuban doctors in Kenya tested? Were they tested in english, spanish or swahili? They are there and helping. That is what matters.
Holy moly. No wonder the…
Holy moly. No wonder the only thing they know is to insult patients.
With so many fake degrees in…
With so many fake degrees in that negroes land most world Employers will have ascertain Individual by Individual are qualified as shown in papers.
With so many fake degrees in…
With so many fake degrees in that negroes land most world Employers will have ascertain Individual by Individual are qualified as shown in papers.
Better a qualified handyman than a fake degree holder.
With so many fake degrees in…
With so many fake degrees in that negroes land most world Employers will have ascertain Individual by Individual are qualified as shown in papers.
Better a qualified handyman than a fake degree holder.
The best student of Nigeria…
The best student of Nigeria NEGROE is Kenyan NEGROE.
A pure Twin.
Rotten nigger… you admire…
Rotten nigger… you admire calling us Kenyans negroes. What a basic shameless individual you are. Keep licking more of that white shit…Suck more of them too. BS.
I see Israeli doctors who…
I see Israeli doctors who can’t even construct a english sentence when talking to english speaking patients and he is the best doctor – awards ameshinda hapa ni mob yani kila mwaka…dude can diagnose and treat like nobody’s business…this is a joke they probably found a new batch of nurses that have offered to grease hands ya bwana CS
In Kenyan nursing schools…
In Kenyan nursing schools you only need at least a D+ to enter program. Why are we surprised for their lack of reading and written english competencies? Those who graduate with a BSc Nursing, rarely work in kenya after interning, they head SA, UK, and majority to UAE. The 20k ones to be shipped to UK are subjected to the toefl tests and other english tests coz they never had bachelor degrees and their high school kcse certificates were fails in sciences and english.
Nothing surprising here…
Nothing surprising here. What with all the slang spoken in public. On top of that English is a second language taught by non native speakers.
I bet the would be also a mass failure in Swahili due to the influence of slang. I wonder what those who passed did differently. Nothing as bad as being poor in Swahili as well as English. Especially written English. These nurses have room for improvement. They can learn from their mistakes. I would not be embarrassed if I were them.
Failing the English test is…
Failing the English test is the least of their worries.Has anyone informed them that in the UK patients have rights including the right to refuse care by a foreigner.Here they are used to patients addressing them with respect while they bark instructions and orders sometimes even abusing patients.They are in for a real attitude adjustment and will have to deal with racism where before they only heard about it
If I am to employ you, even…
If I am to employ you, even as a maid or a driver, I can choose to test whether you exactly understand what I mean….and that we communicate and understand each other. While testing you, I’ll be doing that on behalf of others….say others that employ me, or simply my family who will be dealing with you directly. You as the employee have only ONE OPTION…take my test or leave. If you take the test and perform below par, I can decide to work with you while you perfect your skills or just to fire you before hire. YAANI, pass the damn English, even if it means paying for lessons, or just show mayuu the middle finger. Your skills in this new environment will require that test…..that is what working in another country might call for…and being a Kenyan who has gone to school and college using front doors, you can do it — just don’t get disappointed by flopping once or twice…
Failure in a colonizers…
Failure in a colonizers language- (English) just means that colonizers have failed in completely colonizing you.
How many Europeans would pass a test in Kiswahili or any other African language?
It’s time they get tested in order for us to draw fair conclusions.
English is a language for the European
German for people from Germany
French for people from France
Chinese for people from China
Italian for people from Italy
Japanese for people from Japan
Mr. Kagwe what are you teaching your people?
Could it be that you are teaching them using the wrong language?
You do not blame the victim.
Teach them in their own language’s and you will have no problem.
” To speak is to live for another”
So, we should speak Swahili…
So, we should speak Swahili to English patients? This is a pure indication of corruption. Students who bribed their way to get into nursing school with failing grades in high school! Those are the outcomes! Another thing, do you think the selection process of the 300 was fair? I am very certain that 290 bribed their way. So let’s not blame the Englishman,blame our system. The best of the best are rotting in the villages with their good credentials!
Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta will…
Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta will go down in history AS THE WORST PRESIDENT KENYA EVER HAS. His presidency has seen MAJOR Brain drain in the country. All those able bodied professionals are leaving the country in DROVES and he is mandating it- everyone else is busy cheering them on. How is it even possible to invest in the country when it’s full of kina Mkenya Halisi here and other clueless, nepotistic and corrupt individuals in leadership positions. We are doomed. Wale wajanja wanatoka, those who can stand up to the government are packing up and leaving. Those who can work in integrity are offering that to our former mabeberus. Are you F@%cking setious. We are busy getting worried about filling up for the 62,000 gap UK has. Have you asked yourself how many patients per nurse are there in Kenya. It is a disgrace.
Wow, is there a possibility…
Wow, is there a possibility they can publish this test so that we can see how this test was or looks like??
As a member of the public, its good to know why our nurses are failing. Thanks