KNUT Gives Statement on Demotion Of Primary Headteachers
The Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms‘ plan to demote primary school heads without degrees starting in January of the next year has been contested by a teachers union.
Nelson Oyuu, secretary general of the Kenya National Union of Teachers, referred to the idea as “unfair and the worst labour practise the country will implement on the teachers.”
After attending the Knut Coast Council regional meeting at Ronald Ngala Primary School in Mvita, he was giving a speech in Mombasa.
“We are ready, and we are ready to bite when it’s necessary so that our teachers may continue to feel at ease. The heads you are mentioning are indeed some of the best, according to Oyuu.
“It’s basically administration, and we all went to college to learn the fundamentals of administration and qualified highly.”
Oyuu stated that while they fully support the working party’s suggestions for adjustments and reforms in the education sector, they have concerns about some of the ideas.
He reaffirmed Knut’s commitment to assisting primary school principals without degrees, adding they would make recommendations to the working party that would allow them to continue working while attending university.
Oyuu attacked individuals who would believe otherwise, implying that 99 percent of elementary school administrators were graduates.
Any head teacher who does not already hold a degree should enrol in a higher education programme, according to him.
The working group had proposed that primary head teachers in schools that were hosting junior secondary schools at the time the new Competency Based Curriculum was implemented lead the institutions for a transitional period ending on December 30, 2023.
It suggested building comprehensive schools that would house the current JSS, primary school and pre-primary schools all in one building with a single head teacher.
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Lesser duties will be assigned to current head teachers who lack the required credentials.
The Knut secretary general praised the idea of comprehensive schools, noting that it would put an end to the problems of primary, junior secondary, and senior secondary education and allow students to attend the same institution from ECD through grade 12.
With everything in place, Oyuu claimed that they would be able to have one institution’s head without much confusion.
“Due to the fact that JSS’s implementation was rather disorganised, there were several holes that should have been filled. The shift of grade 7 kids to JSS has occurred, but where are the teachers? posed Oyuu.
Even though Knut agreed that JSS should be housed in elementary schools, he insisted that the case for comprehensive schools needed to be made stronger.
Oyuu also expressed concern about the issue of employing ECDE instructors across the nation.
He claimed that Knut stated in its plans that basic education starts with ECDE and continues through Form 4.
While the ministry and the Teachers Service Commission are thought to be responsible for staffing grades 1 through 12, he claimed that ECD was really regrettable that counties had to step in to hire teachers.
The working group has suggested that the TSC pay ECDE teachers’ salaries.
“Counties hire instructors with TSC numbers; it defies reason for one to hold the number while working for the county. Because this will be in line with teachers in terms of quality assurance and even in work in our schools, TSC must now engage these educators, according to Oyuu.
KNUT Gives Statement on Demotion Of Primary Headteachers
The working party’s suggestion to limit TSC authority in order to benefit the Ministry of Education was also criticised by the Knut secretary general.
He claimed that Knut had advocated for the TSC and the parent ministry to follow a clear route in terms of quality assurance.
“What we want was a clear description of duties free from conflict and physical contact. We stated in our suggestions that we could not afford to take a seat in disputes between TSC and the ministry.
He also praised TSC for releasing the 2023–2027 strategic plan, which will cost Sh70 billion to implement.
He claimed that the plan was clear in all except one area—teacher compensation—which, in his opinion, has to be given another look.
He claimed that Knut was ready to pressure TSC into the discussion so that teacher compensation would also be taken into account by the strategic plan.
The National Treasury decreased the TSC’s earlier recommendation for teachers’ promotion from Sh2 billion to Sh1 billion, but it was nonetheless well-received.
The SRC prevented us from negotiating any financial terms in 2021, thus we still want TSC to get down with us and reopen the door to discussions, Oyuu stated.
But now that the negotiation caveat has been withdrawn, we have written to TSC and asked them 14 days to meet with us so that we may begin reviewing the non-monetary CBA we signed in 2021.
