The Kenya national union of teachers (KNUT) has appealed to members of parliament to pass the sessional paper number 10 of 2024 to help fix challenges that the basic education sector faces before the transition to senior school next year.
The union wants the policy document, which has been gathering dust at the Ministry of Education since last year, passed to legally create comprehensive schools that bring pre-primary to Grade Nine and under one school head.
Knut hopes this will cure tensions that cropped up after junior school was domiciled in primary schools under the head teachers.
The union said that Kenya does not have teachers specifically trained for junior school and those deployed there are for secondary schools.
“To strengthen curriculum implementation in Basic Education, the government will establish a comprehensive school system where all levels of learning from pre-primary to grade nine are managed as one institution under one head of institution,” the document states.
Knut First National Vice Chairman Malel Langat said the sessional paper is crucial for reforms in the education sector and its passage will bring to an end squabbles between junior school teachers and the head teachers.
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Also at stake is the 46,000 junior school teachers who are currently affiliated to and pay agency fees to the Kenya union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) but who are also claimed by Knut.
Proprietors of private schools, through the chairperson of the Kenya Association of Private Schools Charles Ochome, said they have set up comprehensive schools that also include senior schools.
“Many parents would want stand-alone senior. But we have comprehensive schools, those with big land and can designate where they can have a pre-school, middle school, junior school and senior school,” said Ochome.
Recently, Knut secretary-general Collins Oyuu urged junior school teachers to work in harmony with their colleagues from the primary section.
“We are telling our young men and women teaching in junior school, which is domiciled in primary schools, that a teacher is a teacher. Do not think that another teacher is inferior to the other,” he said.
He also advised them to have proper relationships with the Kenya Primary Schools Head Association.
“These teachers are manning ECDE, primary and junior school, which are comprehensive schools,” he said adding that the heads of institutions should be remunerated differently to reflect their added responsibilities.
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According to the sessional paper, the number of pre-primary schools increased from 41,779 in 2017 to 46,652 in 2022, while that of primary schools increased from 30,354 to 31,464. The number of secondary schools grew from 8,958 to 10,390. During the same period, the gross enrollment ratio for pre-primary improved from 77.1 per cent to 111.2 per cent.
At the primary level, the pupil-teacher ratio was 41 for public schools and 24 for private schools. At the secondary level, public schools had a ratio of 29 compared to 14 in private schools.
Once passed, the policy will mandate the government to review and implement capitation levels to all levels of basic education institutions, and establish a Minimum Essential Package (capitation of Basic Education institutions, and enhance a national and county government consultations on financing pre-primary education.
Other gains include strengthening fiscal management and audit function in Basic Education institutions, and development and implementation of a framework to regulate the acquisition of school uniforms.
By Cornelius Korir
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