School principals and teachers’ unions have raised concerns on the current status of secondary schools, calling for the government to effectively and timely fund the schools and further introduce equalization fund to cushion under-enrolled schools.
They observe that most of the country’s secondary schools are over-populated and over-enrolled as a result of 100 per cent transition policy from primary to secondary, more in particular boarding schools while facilities are not enough.
This has forced a good number of boarding schools resorting to the use of triple decker bed system in dormitories, while in some schools, students have been forced to share beds in a move to address the issue of increased enrolment; a situation that has caused congestion in the dormitories predisposing them to such vices like homosexuality.
Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Collins Oyuu states that he is sympathizing with school principals with the current status the secondary schools are, adding that they are at a total risk as a result of 100 per cent transition.
“The 100 per cent transition has several negative effects in institutions. When you look at what happened in Mukumu Girls, part of the reasons is overcrowding. The government has not adjusted much because of the 100 per cent transition,” Oyuu told Education News in a recent interview, adding: “Our learners used to sleep on double deckers. Let me tell you without cheating that some of these schools now operate on triple deckers and the distance between a learner and the roof is just few centimeters.”
Oyuu has now challenged the departments dealing with public health in the Ministry of Health in what he says that they have forgotten their role; urging the Quality Assurance and Standard (QAS) directorate in the Ministry of Education (MOE) not only to focus into the infrastructure and the role of teachers in school, but should also include in public health on a better percentage.
“Dining Halls have been turned into dormitories. The level of hygiene in most of the schools is wanting. So let us not just say it is Mukumu, much more is coming. Quality Assurance should put much more efforts and public health as well. Our children are in pathetic condition and I want to sympathize with our Principals; they are at a total risk,” stated Oyuu.
Initially, over enrollment used to be a crime that is punishable and then School Inspectors, who currently are referred to us QASOs stationed at Sub-counties, used to enforce this policy in a ruthless manner which ensured that institutions lived within their means, that is admitting students within the approved capacity of the school.
John Kipkapto, Baringo KESSHA Chairperson added that the government should improve day schools by face-lifting facilities in those schools in order to attract more students and reduce pressure in boarding schools.
He revealed that despite the Sub-county QASOs being there, they are not properly funded since they have no funds and means of movement from one school to another hence hindering their effective operation, making them to shift the assessment to need by need basis.
“For assessment to be held the school has to pay like you have to request them and then you fund them. Unless the schools support them with funds, it is so difficult for them. So sometimes we do them (school assessment) but on need by need basis,” he added.
According to Auditor General’s report on Performance Audit Report on Fire Safety Performance in Secondary Schools by the Ministry of Education dated September 2020, there was a shortage of 473 QASO’s in 286 Sub-Counties with only 385 QASO’s available against 858 which is the ideal number of QASO’s required.
The Safety Standards Manual for Schools in Kenya of 2008 requires that school safety assessment be monitored by QASO’s as part of their routine advisory visits to schools.
The schools are supposed to be assessed at least once in every two years, and to follow up on implementation of their recommendations within three to six months after issuing an assessment report.
Principals are now calling for the government to introduce the threshold on the number of students to check on the stained facilities, with Morris Rotich who is a Principal in one of the secondary schools in Elgeyo Marakwet proposing that a new rule within the Education Act need to be introduced, to ensure that a minimum of 1,000 students should be admitted at any given time in a given school as a maximum number at in a year.
Currently, there are schools with even up to 15 streams per class each carrying 50 students meaning a class carries 750 students, a situation that causes unfriendly learning environment since students fight to access limited toilets, congested dormitories, laboratories, among others.
What used to be called teacher-to-student ratio is currently a mirage with most struggling with shortage of teachers, hence being forced to hire many teachers under the Board of Management (BOM) terms to address the shortage.
“Things are not just working out because you cannot take a day to work on infrastructure. The congestion is so high; classes dormitories, toilets, dining halls among others are overstretched, then coupled with poor fee payments from parents because the economy is not good…actually the quality of teaching has gone down,” Mwachi Dan who is Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) Vihiga Chairperson told Education News.
Dan added that if there is proper funding from the government, the operations in the schools will be smooth.
Milking the cash cow
On the other hand, most Principals are happy to cash-in on the situation. To some, the over enrollment allows them to access more money in government capitation funds, which allows them to dip their fingers into the till.
Such principals are awash with cash as School auditors are no longer patrolling schools as the case used before; and even when they do, they easily get compromised through kickbacks from such Principals.
For instance, according to the Auditor-General’s report for the National Government for the Year 2019/2020 signed by the Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu on May 28, 2021; the government paid over Ksh1.8 billion to 2, 610 public secondary schools in different counties to ‘ghost’ students.
The overpayment was attributed to erroneous computations of July and September, 2019 disbursements, inflation of enrolment numbers in January, 2020 (ghost students) and double payments to some schools.
“The subsidies balance includes an amount of Shs.1,815,126,548 being overpayment of subsidies to two thousand six hundred and ten (2610) public secondary schools in different counties,” reads the report.
Introduce equalization Fund to schools
According to Rotich, the current funding policy is wrong and enrollment should not be used as common denominator in allocation of resources, calling introduction of equalization fund in schools to help those schools which are under-enrolled.
Under the current circumstances, the student is the factor in funding without looking into the aspects of infrastructure and other learning resources.
“When established schools with enough facilities receive more students, automatically will receive more money while less endowed schools which cannot attract high enrollment, will suffer and never grow for being sophisticated by the government itself,” said Rotich.
Currently, it is not strange to find a school which is less than 1km apart with a big school suffering the fate of under enrollment, while its neighbor ironically is over enrolled, with Rotich calling for the government to consider balancing enrolment in public schools.
By Our Reporter
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