Cornel n George ! I was surprised to note that Mombasa did not have facilities for the Higher School Certificate (HSC) - aka Advanced Levels (A levels).
While I agree, it was very tough with a very rigid syllabus, I tend to agree with many people including my older brother -Steve - that it is a great "barometer" to gauge one's ability to purse a good college education. Remember, it was "tailored" to serve the needs of the British college system. After passing his School Certificate -aka Ordinary Level (O levels) at St. Joseph's in Dar es Salaam, Steve continued with his A levels at the country's only all-white high school - the St. Michael's & St. George's at my home town-Iringa. He told me that there was startling difference and initially found it tough. Some of his school mates who got "First Grade" (First Class) -dropped out of high school as they found it very difficult to continue. However, most of the Indians did very well and some of them got A pluses- enabling theme to get admission to top British colleges and scholarships to American universities;likewise many of my schoolmates at St. Joseph's went on to do extremely well at Nairobi's Strathmore College - East Africa's top High School for Advanced Level. (The Iringa school was converted to a ful fledged High School in the mid-sixties and renamed Mkwawa High School- the only one of its type in Tanzania at that time). After familiarising myself with the American educational system thru "coaching" all my three kids - all graduates of American universities and colleges - I feel a similar "bridge" should be introduced here. This will greatly decrease first year college "drop-outs" who deprive many other well deserving students of getting those missed "slots". Like the British system , they will also be given an opportunity to evaluate their possibilities of pursuing college education. May be George, who is familiar with the inter-arts and inter-science system in India, and the American educational system, could shed some light on the subject. rgds. Tony Barros. Union, New Jersey, USA. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com