Unions oppose suggestion to discipline school heads over performance
Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Secretary-General Wilson Sossion chat during Knut's 59th Annual Delegates Conference at Kasarani Safaricom Stadium in Nairobi on December 7, 2016. PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Kenya National Union of Teachers and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education said the teachers are not to blame.
- Knut National Treasurer John Matiang’i said socio-economic, psychological, environmental and political factors are to blame for poor performance in schools.
Teachers’ unions have vowed to oppose the punishment of head teachers whose schools perform poorly.
Kenya National Union of Teachers and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education said the teachers are not to blame.
The unions asked the Teachers Service Commission not to blame head teachers alone.
Knut National Treasurer John Matiang’i said socio-economic, psychological, environmental and political factors are to blame for poor performance in schools.
“All senior managers at the teachers’ commission are teachers and they understand that many factors contribute to poor performance,” Mr Matiang’i said.
The commission said on November 29 that head teachers of schools which post poor results for three consecutive years will be taken back to class to teach, design, administer and mark assignments.
An analysis of this year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examination revealed that some 6,747 candidates had less than 100 marks.
These are pupils who obtained an average of 25 per cent in each paper and cannot join secondary schools.
The pass mark is 250 out of 500.
Last year 3,061 candidates scored less than 100 marks. In 2014, there were 6,017.
SHORTAGE
Speaking during the release of the primary school final exams, the Teachers Service Commission chief executive, Ms Nancy Macharia, said they will study a report on candidates’ performance to decide where to improve in teaching.
The commission will have a support systems so teachers can effectively participate.
“We will look at the performance appraisal for teachers,” Ms Macharia said.
Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i said this year’s performance was slightly lower than last year’s.
On Thursday, Kuppet Chairman Omboko Milemba asked the commission to address the perennial problem of poor performance in schools.
“We should not apportion blame to others. Let us work together to correct the mess,” he said.
In relation to performance, the unions have insisted that the country requires more than 90,000 teachers to meet the shortage.
