Away from the public eye, scores of graders discussed practically everything: their job circumstances, school administrators, politics, families, etc. However, since all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, the “After 4.30 pm” activities that the markers participate in provide a pleasant commercial break from the regular conversation in many staffrooms.
There is a great deal of catching up to do as many of these graders were college classmates during their youthful exuberance. Despite the centre principals’ harsh pep lectures warning teachers about local crime gangs and other problems, inquisitive markers continue to discover other towns and their nightlife. However, old flames from one’s former college, school, and county are the easiest to reignite.
“In-house romance” tops the list of “extracurricular” activities that take center stage at exams marking centres, despite the fact that everyone pretends not to see it. During the country-wide marking exercise, Jamal has witnessed a number of his colleagues erecting makeshift tents at the parts of local women.
“In fact, centre organizers in parts of Nyanza, western and eastern frequently alert markers prior to the start of marking.” “They always warn them about the local women, whom they say are cunning and shrewd at luring male tourists,” says Jamal.
Jamal adds, “However, these cautions tend to elicit the opposite effect: a desire to consume local ‘goods’.”
Jamal says, “Therefore, some philandering men mark out their areas, which they frequently visit for a near-homely life for the duration of the marking.”
In addition to leaving the marking centres, he reveals that some married teachers with a lust for forbidden fruit throw caution to the wind and engage in short-term romances.
He says that one only needs to visit these marking centres at night to find activities that would embarrass Sodom and Gomorrah.
“A nighttime visit to these locations might be quite unsettling. The teachers and alleys are always cluttered with pairs of teacher silhouettes. And they are always either casually wandering around or ‘exchanging saliva’ and, in some cases, brazenly participating in ‘gland-to-gland’ combats,’ Jamal reveals dismissively, adding, “these things are typical, we are accustomed to them.”
Moreover, he wonders, “After the noble action of grading examinations, for which you hope to be paid pennies, is there any inexpensive and more enjoyable pastime a teacher may engage in to compensate his aching bones and muscles for the hard work?”
He reveals that last year, an overzealous security guard saw two of his coworkers in a dark corner committing an act.
And after refusing to give up “anything little,” the watchman escalated the matter to the managers. The following morning, the senior examiners organized a conference to discuss the matter, and both were dismissed!
“The startling fact is that both of the sinners are in stable marriages back home, yet they were insufficiently discreet,” says Jamal.
He also notes that both Kiswahili and English teachers are excessively talkative. They readily make buddies. As a result, when they invade local pubs, they abandon all caution and exhibit a fatalistic disposition.
“Language teachers are less circumspect than physics teachers; the majority are reckless, take chances, and easily blend in with the locals,” says Jamal. This ability allowed Jamal’s companion to “discover” a local town in dramatic fashion in Kiambu County, where they were marking.
“This man from the shore defied the organizer of the centre’s sage advice and ventured out alone one evening.” The enchanted signpost visited the seedier part of town and made instant friends with a twilight lady. Unfortunately, his fowl was prepared in this manner.
The following morning, he awoke to find himself naked in a budget hotel! Due to his catch spiking his drink with mchele, he had been stripped of his clothes and personal belongings (drug). “He endured the humiliation of walking naked back to the marking center, and a harambee was held to raise funds for his return home,” says Jamal.
According to Kamau, who has been marking mathematics for the past ten years, there are consistent people and groups at every marking centre that assist combat monotony and boredom.
Prior to the advent of mobile phone money transfer technology, teachers sold phone recharge cards for all networks to earn extra cash. However, same businesses now sell credit using phone money transfer services. “Before the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) adjusted its way of reimbursing teachers’ fares according to zones, we were expected to submit bus and hotel receipts, which was a major source of revenue,” says Kamau.
“Some deceitful teachers would manufacture and sell receipts with the names of hotels in Kenya’s major cities and new bus company names claiming to serve all routes,” says Kamau. And before the advent of smart phones with cameras, some business-savvy teachers would moonlight as photographers.
According to Kamau, smokers immediately develop a covert location for their activities and a supply network at every marking centre. After 4.30 p.m., sports enthusiasts seek each other out and form teams to relieve stress. Early Christmas songs were sung by religious individuals.
Adulterers and adulteresses also seek each other out through an unwritten language and begin their antics, while beer drinkers assemble on the first day and look for methods to engage in their hobby!
Kamau says that despite the stunning ways in which the majority of these teachers socialize, there are still severe occurrences. For instance, after or during their bonding, they exchange plots, automobiles, and real property.
Albert, a history paper examiner, supports Kamau’s claims and adds that, in order to lessen what he calls “teachers’ staggering distance,” the majority of modern marking centres convert a room into a pub for the duration of the exercise. However, there are a few centers that adhere to stringent religious ideas and will never welcome beer-drinking markers, forcing them to redecorate the local towns and markets.
Albert adds that due to the variety of brands accessible outdoors, many people choose to drink away from their centers. “Often, dealers of illicit alcoholic beverages like as chang’aa, busaa, Uganda’s waragi, and coffee wine develop supply channels and drinking dens to marking centres in western Kenya,” he says.
Notoriety
Shadrack, a married examiner who has recently returned from a centre in Nakuru County, says that the sisi kwa sisi (teacher-to-teacher) variety of notoriety took an unpleasant turn as the end of the exercise approached.
The organizer of the center had engaged a large number of young ladies as temporary dish washers, waitresses, and caterers.
Shadrack says, “This centre organizer had instructed them to maintain a safe distance from the male markers.”
The majority of the duration, this rule was in effect. Shadrack adds that because humans are known to be social, teasing occurred in both directions.
“It began as a rumor that an adventurous instructor had been sighted in compromising positions with one of the cleaners along the hedgerows and fields,” Shadrack says.
The library of this national school was transformed into a pub throughout the marking duration. Evening operations were handled by two maids-for-hire.
“In full view of me one evening, a homesick marker struck up a conversation with one of the ladies, and as the night wore on, they grew a bit cozy,” says Shadrack.
“I went to bed, leaving them there. “However, the next morning, act on the street was that the two’sinners’ had completed their relationship on the spot,” Shadrack says.
Examiner of scientific papers Diana scoffs at all of these claims.
“Sex scandals occur in everything from marking centres and university common rooms to the judiciary and the civil service. “However, everyone is expected to mind their own business so long as the issues remain under the surface,” she says.
She adds that after a period of time together, exam graders, being human — social and official barriers weaken — will inevitably create bonds. And that they should not be unfairly judged.
“Therefore, a drinker is acceptable so long as he or she shows up during the essential daylight hours to mark. “What they do subsequently should not be a major concern,” she says.
Diana asks if teachers’ pranks at marking centres are out of the usual in comparison to the frequency with which Kenyans engage in adultery and other shenanigans.