Resolve those issues to ease learning in schools

What you need to know:

  • Third, a task force that had been set up to make recommendations on secondary school fees has not handed in its report, yet this is vital to guide education managers on levies and, most importantly, how to reduce learning costs and enhance access.
  • Similarly, the Teachers Service Commission does not have a full complement of commissioners and a chairperson. The implication is that these organisations cannot deliver their mandates effectively.

Schools reopened Monday for the third and final term of the year amid several uncertainties.

In the first place, the Kenya National Union of Teachers has issued a 21-day strike notice to push the government to start fresh negotiations on a new pay package. The fear is that should the two fail to agree early enough to forestall the strike, then learning and preparations for the national examinations may be disrupted in the coming weeks. Nobody wants to see that eventuality.

Second, schools face a financial crisis because the government has not been able to provide adequate capitation since the year began. Schools are reeling under debt and there are no signs of respite yet because no new disbursements have been made.

Indeed, previous pledges by the government to send money to schools have not materialised, raising questions as to whether the government was still committed to free primary and subsidised secondary education.

SCHOOL FEES

Third, a task force that had been set up to make recommendations on secondary school fees has not handed in its report, yet this is vital to guide education managers on levies and, most importantly, how to reduce learning costs and enhance access.

Fourth, key institutions within the Ministry of Education are operating without substantive officers. For example, the Kenya National Examinations Council, which is to administer exams from next month, does not have a chief executive.

Similarly, the Teachers Service Commission does not have a full complement of commissioners and a chairperson. The implication is that these organisations cannot deliver their mandates effectively.

The point is that there is a lot of pending business, which requires action as the term begins. Learners want to study and would loathe a scenario where they have to live with doubts.