Invest in training teachers to improve quality of learning

Kenyans of good will and education stakeholders would like to fast forget the mess the education sector was plunged into in 2015.

The sector was in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Indeed, the sector was in a crisis because of lack of policy dialogue and misguided decisions taken by some key persons and institutions managing the sector and teachers.

That is why there was relief when new Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i was posted to the Education ministry.

And, based on what he has so far done, we are happy that he is committed to developing the sector.

Welcome aboard, sir. Since our job is to provide research-based evidence for decision-making and planning, it is just fair for us to early enough give you, and your team, a summary of what ails our education sector and what you could do to save it.

We write to you this piece because due to logistical reasons it might not be easy for us to meet you face-to -face soonest for a constructive dialogue.

We also recommend that you read our new book, Fifty Years of Educational Development in Kenya: Mapping out the Gains, Challenges and Prospects for the Future (2015). We shall send to you a signed copy.

Research has shown that the capacity of countries to compete in the global knowledge economy increasingly depends on whether they can meet a fast-growing demand for high-level knowledge and skills.

This, in turn, hinges on significant improvements in the quality of learning outcomes and a more equitable distribution of learning opportunities.

ALL ENCOMPASSING REFORMS

Putting this in mind, we state upfront that the planned education reform by the ministry of Education should not just be restricted to curriculum reform and/or structure of education.

Reforming teacher education and teaching-learning processes in Kenyan schools is urgent and should be at the core of any development reform in the education sector.

In the last 50 years, the expansion of educational opportunities has been phenomenon.

The number of public and private primary schools increased from 6,058 in 1963 to over 27,000 currently.

The enrolment at this level of education has grown from 892,000 pupils in 1963 to about 9.6 million at present.

The number of secondary schools has increased from 151 to over 7,308 over the same period, with enrolment growth from 30,000 in 1963 to over 2.3 million currently.

The increase in school participation across the country is attributed to good and responsive policies including the Free Primary Education (FPE) and Free Day Secondary Education (FSDE) programmes implemented in 2003 and 2008 respectively.

The enrolment at TVET institutions is at over 83,000, while enrolment into university sub-sector stands at about 600,000 currently.

SECTOR CHALLENGES
As we celebrate the quantitative achievement in our education system, available evidence indicates that the quality of schooling outcomes is low and there are indications that graduates of our education system, from primary to university, have limited grasp of knowledge and skills needed for further learning and effective performance in the labour market.

In a nutshell, our education system faces the “whole system” challenges. These include among others the following:

There are almost two million school-age children who are currently out-of –school, unable to access education, which is their Constitutional right.

The majority of these are from nomadic counties and poor urban slums.

The quality of basic and higher education is very low compared to other countries with the same or lower GDP per capita as Kenya.

Public primary schools continue to perform poorly in national examinations compared to private primary schools.

For example, in both 2014 and 2015 KCPE, almost 50 percent of candidates got less than 200 marks in KCPE.

In the last 10 years, about 200,000 young Kenyans are pushed out of the education system and terminate their learning at primary school level, and in five years join the illiterate group.

Our education system lacks about 100,000 teachers to effectively and efficiently manage our schools and teaching-learning processes.

This goes up if we factor in those who should be removed from the system because they do not teach.

UNPLEASANT OUTPUT

The majority of teachers are demotivated and remain in the classrooms just because there is no other alternative.

Absenteeism is high in our schools across the country. There are those who go to schools but are not in classrooms.

Many public schools have limited infrastructure (classrooms and water/sanitation).

If they exist, they are dilapidated and not conducive for effective learning.

In 2015, pupils still learn under trees or sit on stones in some counties in Kenya.

The body in charge of management of teachers in the country remains adamant to dialogue with teachers’ unions.

It manages teachers’ issues through courts or unpopular directives.

Thus paralysing strikes have become an annual ritual in public schools.

Increase in cases of cheating in KCPE and KCSE is worrying and making our national examinations and education system in general look bad.

Despite increase in capitation grant and many well-intentioned reform efforts, performance in many primary and secondary schools, rural and urban, in national examinations — KCPE and KSCE — has barely improved.

Studies indicate that majority of pupils in primary schools leave Standard Eight without basic literacy and numeracy skills, and within three-to-five years become totally illiterate.

UPPING QUALITY TEACHING
As we progress into 2016, we need constructive, targeted and inclusive dialogue, informed by evidence, to reform our education system and make it relevant to the country’s development needs.

Improving quality of teaching and learning outcomes should be a priority.

Research and experience from high quality education systems in countries such as Finland, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia among others provides good lessons/benchmarks and suggest that three things matter most:

1. Getting the right people to become teachers.

Top-performing systems, in for example Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), recruit their teachers from the top third of each cohort graduating from their school system: the top five percent in South Korea, the top 10 percent in Finland, and the top 30 percent in Singapore and Hong Kong.

These countries also have robust and effective mechanisms for selecting teachers for teacher training.

For example, Singapore and Finland put emphasis on the academic achievement of candidates, their communication skills, and their motivation for teaching.

One interesting requirement is that one must be a degree holder first before admission to be trained as a teacher. A good starting salary and conducive working environment is also necessary.

2. Developing those people/teachers into effective instructors:

The only way to improve learning outcomes is to improve instruction.

The quality of learning outcomes for any school system is essentially the sum of the quality of the instruction that teachers deliver.

This requires two things — developing relevant curriculum and associated pedagogies and making sure that they are effectively implemented in schools; and giving all teachers the capacity and knowledge to deliver the curriculum reliably.

Thus professional development of teachers and support at school level is critical.

If an education system does not have motivated and inspired teachers, as we have in Kenya, then there will be very few inspired students.

3. Exposing every child to the best possible instruction:

Put in place systems and targeted support to ensure that every child is able to benefit from excellent instruction.

The starting point is having a curriculum standard, which set clear and high expectations for what students would achieve.

The second factor is putting in place an effective system for monitoring learning outcomes of all learners.

Trained and motivated teachers are ‘engines’ of such a system.

Putting in place effective systems of interventions to support individual students within schools prevent failure or poor performance.

These are just some of practical suggestions that could improve quality of education and learning outcomes across all schools in Kenya.

International evidence indicate that an education system or a school system can be improved form low to international quality standards and turned into an ‘engine’ for growth.

THE REQUIREMENTS

What is required is focus, political commitment, zeal, timing/sequence of policy choices and innovations.

Education reform in Kenya would be inadequate, and irrelevant, if the issue of quality of learning outcomes and more critical reform in teacher education — professionalising teachers and teaching — are not comprehensively addressed in the next five years.

Indeed, excellence in education, as has been demonstrated in countries cited above, is an attainable goal, and at a reasonable cost.

We need to create an environment that will attract the right people into teaching.

And we need to put our priorities right and avoid mismanaging teachers or their union.