Holidays tuition ban order defied

What you need to know:

  • A teacher converted his living room in a Nakuru estate into a classroom for the pupils he had promised to coach during the holidays.
  • Some parents complain that they are being asked to pay thousands of shillings for the extra lessons.
  • In parts of Nairobi and Kiambu counties, students are asked to avoid wearing uniform when they report for holiday classes.

Thousands of students and teachers ignored a government ban on holiday tuition and turned up for classes in various parts of the country.

A spot check by the Nation in some major towns established that schools were conducting holiday tuition in residential areas, social halls and churches to avoid sanctions by the Education ministry.

Teachers insisted that they could not complete the syllabus without holiday tuition. (READ: Teachers fault ban on holiday tuition)

“I had prior arrangements with some parents before schools closed for August holiday and since some of them had paid me, I had no alternative but to seek another venue to hold the tuition,” said a Mathematics teacher in a church in Nakuru town.

Another teacher said he had converted his living room in a Nakuru estate into a classroom for the pupils he had promised to coach during the holidays.

“The school principal has warned that stern disciplinary action will be taken against any one found teaching during the holidays,” another teacher stated.

Holiday tuition was in progress at the St Joseph’s High School in Kitale town and a parent, Mr Kipkorir Metto, said: “We were given forms to sign to show that we are in support of the extra studies.”

But Trans Nzoia County director of education Joseph Wamacho warned schools against ignoring the ban. The ban was also ignored in parts of central Kenya, where pupils in lower primary were being taught in private schools.

Some parents complained that they were being asked to pay thousands of shillings for the extra lessons.

“Why should nursery school pupils be asked to go for tuition? I would ideally like to keep my child at home but I am afraid that she might be victimised by the teachers when she reports back in September,” complained a parent, whose child attends a private nursery school in Nyeri.

In parts of Nairobi and Kiambu counties, students were asked to avoid wearing uniform when they report for holiday classes.

Kiambu West Kenya National Union of Teachers secretary-general Michael Muna appealed to Education minister Mutula Kilonzo to lift the ban.

“Tuition is important for slow learners, the Standard Eight and Form Four candidates,” said Mr Muna.

But at Kingeero Primary School in Kabete, Kiambu County, the head teacher turned way pupils when they reported for holiday classes on Monday.

Teachers in Malaba in Busia also supported the ban, arguing that holiday tuition would not improve education standards.

“We are burdening these children with a lot of exams and then we want them to come to class during the holidays. This is not right,” said Mr Masaja Lokakisa, a teacher at Koruruma Primary School.

Busia County Knut chairman Jared Olubayi, said: “This holiday tuition business is brought about by poverty and the need for the teachers to make an extra coin.”

Stories by Anne Macharia, Raphael Wanjala, Gerald Andae, Philip Bwayo, Francis Mureithi and Charles Mwaniki