KESSHA Chairperson Willy Kuria has called on government to retool teachers for the success of CBE. Photo: Education News.
Secondary Schools principals have raised concerns on the level of preparedness before the estimated 1.2 million grade nine students transition to Grade 10 in 226 January.
Speaking during the ongoing Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Associations (KESSHA) in Mombasa, the principals want the national government to address the issue of retooling of teachers in the three pathways of the new education curriculum Competence based Education (CBE), sustainable funding of schools and inclusion of learners in Social Health Insurance SHA, and the issue of congestion.
Additionally, the heads of schools want government and education stakeholders to issue guidance on how national schools will accommodate day scholars. According to Teachers Service Commission (TSC) data, more than 7,000 principals have been retooled, 229,200 primary teachers in primary schools, and 75,000 in junior secondary have been retooled.
In a report by Daily Nation, KESSHA Chairperson and Chief Principal Murang’a High School Willy Kuria, said that the success of CBE is dependent on them, for students to receive quality education.
“If we want this new education system to be successful, we must ensure that teachers are retooled. Education financing is also a major challenge, the current schools being paid by parents set in 2015 is unsustainable. Extra-county schools are paying KSh 40,000, while national schools are paying KSh 53,000,” Kuria explained.
Kuria also lamented about the inflation rate that has gone up by 46% over the 10 year period, urging that funding of schools needs urgent intervention by educational stakeholders. He added that the capitation received from government is not enough to run learning activities in schools.
According to Kuria, the capitation received per student in second term was reduced by almost half with each student receiving KSh 8,000 instead of KSh 11,100, a similar situation happening in first term. He called on TSC and SRC to consider the issue of renumeration of teachers.
The first group of the CBE will set for their Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) in November, in accordance with the results from the Ministry of Education, the student will choose and be placed in various schools according to their choice of pathways.
Earlier, the court revoked school levy imposed on parents by teachers, terming it unconstitutional. The Court directed that for any levy, the Ministry of Education must be involved. The ruling was faulted by KUPPET Secretary General Moses Nthurima, who said the move will cripple learning in schools, as the capitation money is usually delayed and not enough.
