Teachers convert churches, living rooms into coaching premises to beat the ban

Students of Moi Girls High School, Eldoret during their English Functional Skills paper as the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) on October 18, 2011. Teachers in Nakuru Town have defied government ban on holiday tuition and are conducting extra classes secretly. PHOTO/FILE

What you need to know:

  • The county’s Knut secretary, Mr Daniel Chumo, called on Education Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi to withdraw the order and leave county governments to make decisions that suited their areas.
  • In Nyamira, Teachers Service Commission director Alex Cheruyot said his field officers would be on the lookout for headteachers who violated the Education ministry’s directive prohibiting holiday tuition in primary and secondary schools.

Teachers in Nakuru Town have defied government ban on holiday tuition and are conducting extra classes secretly.

Some are offering the lessons in churches and nursery schools while others have converted their living rooms into classrooms to avoid arrest by education officials.

There are also groups that have raised funds and hired church halls to conduct tuition in clusters.

“We are having a rough time this year because the government is keeping a close check on illegal tuition and that is why we have decided to come and hide under the umbrella of the church,” said one of the teachers at a local church.

Teachers defying the order said they were out to make an extra coin because the Teachers Service Commission paid them “poorly”.

“I would also like to rest during the holiday but since my salary is not enough, I must look for means and ways of bridging my financial deficit. That is why I must do extra coaching to willing students,” said a teacher at Kaptembwa slums on the outskirts of Nakuru Town.

Kenya National Union of Teachers Nakuru branch chairman George Mutura warned teachers conducting tuition that the union would not protect them when they are punished by the government.
“Knut will never support such illegal tuition because children should be given ample time to rest,” said Mr Mutura.

In Nyanza, some teachers said they had to conduct holiday tuition to recover time lost during the July teachers’ strike that lasted three weeks.

In Kericho, teachers asked the government to lift the ban on tuition.

The county’s Knut secretary, Mr Daniel Chumo, called on Education Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi to withdraw the order and leave county governments to make decisions that suited their areas.

“The national government should steer clear of petty issues like tuition and leave each county to plan its own tuition programme. If it is part of improving education then it should be done,” he said.

He said some governors were keen to improve education in their counties and should therefore be given the opportunity to do so without interference from the Education ministry.

FAR-REACHING CONSEQUENCES

In Nyamira, Teachers Service Commission director Alex Cheruyot said his field officers would be on the lookout for headteachers who violated the Education ministry’s directive prohibiting holiday tuition in primary and secondary schools.

He said schools that would not allow learners to go on holiday would be guilty of insubordination whose penalty had far-reaching consequences.

He said if teachers utilised teaching periods well, they would be able to cover the syllabus within the stipulated time instead of burdening parents with extra payment to cater for tuition when schools close for holidays.