On the face of it, the letter from the Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Education, Dr. Julius Ogamba, to the Acting Secretary of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), Ms Everleen Mitei, recommending that the TSC takes disciplinary action against the Chief Principal of Alliance Girls High School, arising from an investigative report carried out by the Quality Assurance Department of the Ministry, is a routine occurrence.
There have been many such letters in the past arising from audit and investigative reports from various bodies. However, the reverberations arising from this action, in addition to the initiation of procedures towards dissolving the Board of Management (BoM), will be felt across the education sector for the next year or so for several reasons.
First is that the Ministry, for a long time, had ignored complaints by parents about schools increasing fees without authorisation from the CS, and that the school in question is one of the best public schools in the country.
Secondly, education officials at all levels are parents in these offending schools and even attend BoM meetings where these resolutions are passed without complaining or alerting the CS whom they represent in these meetings. Will these officials be held to account?
Thirdly, the process and procedure of BoMs obtaining approval for fee increments, when justified, is long, winding, and slow. If 4,000 out of 10,000 senior schools were to seek this approval, the likelihood is that the system would be clogged.
Fourthly, stakeholders are likely to put pressure on the government to increase capitation and provide it on time to stem the need for schools to request fee increases.
Fifth is the fact that, in the case of this school, some of the intended purposes, such as funding trips abroad (presumably for teachers), appear like luxury expenditures that poor parents should not be forced to pay for.
Sixth are lamentations attributed to the CS that he does not have the power to take disciplinary action, as that is vested in the TSC, and that principals affected by such disciplinary measures seek protection from their Members of Parliament (MPs), making it difficult to deal with them. Seventh is that this incident occurred just before the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association’s annual general meeting, at which they exert pressure on the government to address their challenges. They will fight back collectively.
Lastly, the country is well into the dawn of an election season. My experience in my leadership of the TSC in the past is that in one year to elections, sitting elected leaders and aspirants for the same seats try to outdo themselves in canvassing for favours for teachers. The same happens intensely for one year after elections, when newly elected leaders seek favours for their fervent supporters among teachers. Some of these elected leaders overestimate their influence and power upon election and may be ignorant of the rules that guide the sector. Let me elaborate on a few of these issues with examples.
Whereas stakeholders are full of praise for the CS for the step he took on the Alliance Girls High School matter, it is demoralising when, after a few days, he laments that he does not have the power to punish principals. The architecture in the Ministry, as provided for in the Education Act, 2013, is that audit and quality assurance services are fully under the CS, who is expected to produce reports and send copies to the TSC with recommendations on actions that the TSC should take. Positive reports assist immensely towards the promotion of respective principals, while negative ones lead to censure of the Boards and principals. The TSC takes these reports seriously without exception.
During my tenure, the Efficiency Monitoring Unit (EMU) under the Presidency carried out sample audits of several schools across the country. Their reports were made available to the TSC, leading to action being taken on the principals and Boards concerned, depending on the severity of the issues raised. Why then would the CS be complaining about this accountability procedure when his present and past counterparts at the Ministry of Public Service have never complained about the Public Service Commission that disciplines civil servants? Likewise, the CS for Interior and National Coordination does not complain that he has no power to discipline police officers under the National Police Service Commission.
Lastly, the observation by the PS that principals get shielded by their political leaders when caught with misdemeanours is true and has always been so. However, the CS is the first person to defend the Ministry on matters of discipline, so long as audit and quality assurance reports are authentic and emanate from his docket. In 2002, several principals, teachers, and a Provincial Director of Education were implicated in examination malpractices by an investigation committee. The TSC interdicted the principals and teachers.
Students in three affected neighbouring schools went on strike on the same day, demanding the reinstatement of their principals. A senior CS from the same area complained bitterly about the TSC’s action. When facts were made available to him, he understood and left the Ministry and TSC to carry on their functions. This is only one of several such cases. Why then would CS Ogamba speak as though he is uncomfortable with the involvement of MPs, yet it is a sure and conclusive way of settling matters when facts are available and watertight?
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In conclusion, the funding arrangement of senior schools must be addressed afresh. Whereas order must be maintained through existing laws, principals, who ordinarily sacrifice a lot to run schools under difficult circumstances, must not be excessively vilified for errors of omission or commission largely attributed to the Ministry. The last review of the issues raised above was in 2014 by a committee headed by Dr Kilemi Mwiria. Many things have changed since then, affecting the funding of schools.
By Benjamin Sogomo
Education Specialist / Former Secretary, TSC
benjaminsogomo@gmail.com
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