Fredrick Odiero
The national secondary school heads forum has petitioned the government to allocate more funds to special learning institutions in the country.
The heads led by the forum’s chairperson Mr. Casper Maina said the special schools need learning materials such as brails, helpers and special googols.
He said the government should employ and even train more special teachers.
The chairman said the biting teacher shortage in schools across the country should also be addressed with the competence based curriculum in mind.
Maina said in a petition read before education cabinet secretary professor George Magoha during their meeting in Kisumu that the government should consider reintroducing organized caning in order to restore discipline among learners.
The school heads said capitation for schools should be dispatched in time so that learning is not disrupted.
In response Prof. Magoha said caning of students is still a subject of discussion.
He advised school heads to take the CBC seriously saying it was there to stay.
The tough talking Professor warned that the government will deal firmly with students who cause destructions in public schools across the country.
Magoha said students who burn learning institutions will be treated as criminals and will face the full force of the law.
“Any student who burns a boarding house for that matter is a criminal how do you deal with a student who burns a boarding house?” he said.
He said they will deal firmly with such errant students and encouraged school heads not to relent on that.
Magoha said that students of Maranda High school who have been recommended to take drug tests before admission must adhere to that.
He said that it is a fact that some students take and sell drugs in some learning institutions and asked parents to take control of their children so that they do not become errant.
“If you want your child to live after you die let him or her go through life” he said.
Magoha said students who are gay or lesbians should be allowed to be day scholars.
The CS similarly said students who want to leave schools should be allowed to go instead of sending the whole lot away
He advised parents not to fall to demands of their children.
Magoha said the government has already released capitation funds to various schools and warned head teachers against sending students away.
“Head teachers should be quite humane to poor students” he said adding that day school was free of charge.
He said anybody who sends students away should be reported to him.
Magoha said the country spends 29.9 % of its total budget on education.
He said President Uhuru Kenyatta has assured that some 18,000 students from poor homes will benefit from Elimu Yetu on a full four year scholarship which runs for a total of two years.
“We will persuade his Excellency so that more students benefit from the same so that we do a further mop up” he said.
Magoha further said the government has committed to constructing 10,000 classrooms as part of preparations for the competency based curriculum.
He lauded Kilifi County for being ahead of the park towards that end where work is going on at some earmarked 142 schools.
The CS said the government is using 5.2 billion shillings while the remaining 8 billion shillings will be used in the second phase.
He said the whole programme is intended to come to completion by June next year.
