Teachers aren’t responsible for exams

Knut secretary-general Wilson Sossion speaks during a fundraiser in Nyeri town on October 8, 2016. He has warned the government against delaying teachers’ salaries. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • It is wrong to put head teachers at the centre of examination administration with the express intention of holding them responsible in case of any malpractices.
  • Nowhere is it said that head teachers and principals should extend their services outside the school compound as far as examination administration is concerned.

We at the Kenya National Union of Teachers appreciate the efforts of the Ministry of Education to eliminate examination cheating.

We understand that the ministry wants head teachers and principals to be directly involved in this fight.

We also appreciate the role of head teachers and principals in schools, promoting academic excellence, instilling discipline in learners, and mentoring teachers.

Head teachers and principals are the pivot around which all aspects of the school revolve.

This calls for their permanent presence in the school compound and the importance of their not being further loaded with additional duties.

It is for this reason that the union cautions the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) not to create anxiety and uncertainty about the role of school heads in handling examination materials in the wake of concerns on exam cheating.

It is wrong to put head teachers at the centre of examination administration with the express intention of holding them responsible in case of any malpractices.

Ordering head teachers and principals to collect national examination materials on a daily basis is intended to shift the blame to them in case exams are leaked.

The Cabinet secretary for Education, Dr Fred Matiang’i, has overstepped his mandate by misdirecting Knec to violate Section 44(1), (2) and (3) of the Knec Act (2012).

SCAPEGOATS

Section (1) reads: “The council may require the Teachers Service Commission to provide such services of persons employed or registered as teachers by the commission as may be necessary to assist in the administration of examinations on temporary basis.

“The council and the Teachers Service Commission shall develop a common code of conduct to regulate the conduct of persons employed under sub-section (1).

“Any infringement of the code of conduct by a person employed under sub-section (1) shall be punished by the Teachers Service Commission.”

Nowhere is it said that head teachers and principals should extend their services outside the school compound as far as examination administration is concerned.

The result of the directive is that head teachers and principals will not be in school throughout the examination period, which is contrary to the Code of Conduct of Teachers, as stated in the TSC Act (2012).

We contend that the overriding reason for Knec and TSC to drag in school heads and make them play a central role in the administration of the exams is to hold them responsible in case of any malpractices.

The Knec Act is quite clear on how national examinations should be handled.

Therefore, the council should recruit competent and experienced supervisors and invigilators to collect and deliver the exam papers to centres without dragging head teachers and principals away from their routine administrative duties and added responsibilities of ensuring the security of the exam centres.

Some schools are far from exam material holding centres.

Many school heads will have to travel several kilometres to the centres and back each day, leaving students and teachers without supervision.

Dr Matiang’i should listen to stakeholders’ concerns on this matter.

UNFAIR TREATMENT

Knut supports any measures that will be effective in eliminating examination malpractices.

However, we believe that involving head teachers in this way is setting them up to unfairly take the blame for any resulting problems.

Principals, we are told, will earn Sh500 a day for 18 days. This translates to Sh9,000.

Head teachers will be paid for four days at the rate of Sh500 a day, amounting to Sh2,000.

This is not the kind of money that an experienced professional should risk his or her career for in this dubious campaign to fight exam cheating.

The decision to close schools during the examination period was to ensure that everyone who is not directly concerned with exam supervision/invigilation does not hang around.

Therefore, TSC’s directive that teachers report to their respective stations directly contradicts the efforts to secure examination centres.

Such teachers will be easy scapegoats for any exam leakage. Head teachers and principals should be left alone to carry out their duties in school.

The Kenya National Examinations Council should carry out its duty of administering exams.

It should not take advantage of TSC’s failure to protect its employees to try to make head teachers and principals scapegoats for its failures.

Mr Sossion is the secretary-general of the Kenya National Union of Teachers.