KUPPET Call For The Abolishment Of Boarding Schools, Threaten To Withdraw Teachers From Class.
The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has urged the government to begin a gradual phase-out of boarding schools in order to reduce the workload on teachers.
The union has petitioned the Teacher Service Commission to address the issues, claiming that teachers in boarding schools are more burdened because they must simultaneously teach and parent their students.
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According to KUPPET, the workload has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic where boarding school teachers have to put in more hours to ensure students make up for the time lost during school's closure.
They have now threatened to withdraw their teachers from class if the the situation doesn't change.
"So we are going to lobby the policymakers to ensure that most of our schools are day schools. We will find it unacceptable to give teachers a necessary workload as those who are now making sure that the students are made comfortable at school, they stay for long hours because they are looking at the boarding sectors which of course nobody recognizes and appreciates." Said KUPPET Secretary General Akello Misori.
In July, Education CS George Magoha rejected a proposal for the immediate closing of 4,000 boarding schools. He maintained that every situation concerning boarding schools would be viewed on its merit.
“There is no plan to abolish them, but there is thinking in that direction. There has to be a gradual process. Maybe new start-ups (schools) will be day schools,” said Magoha.
Magoha said it will be impossible to abolish the schools at a go, but promised to adopt a policy that will see new learners enrolled in day schools.
The abolishment of boarding schools will ultimately see an increase in the number of day schools in the country if the government heeds to the call of KUPPET. Some Education stakeholders consider the abolition of boarding institutions as a measure of ending school unrest.
“It has never been a policy to abolish boarding schools. It is not an issue to bother at the moment.” Said the CS during a workshop for education officials in Mombasa earlier in July.
The Competency-based Curriculum (CBC) task force by the Magoha proposed the scrapping off in primary and proposed junior secondary schools (JSS) under the new 2-6-3-3-3 education system.
The stakeholders behind the move claimed that the proposal will reduce unnecessary expenses and make learning more affordable for parents and guardians.
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Kuppet SG says phasing out of boarding schools should begin before 2023 when there will be double transitions from primary to secondary schools.
"Because something here which nobody wants to address is that by the year 2023 we shall be having two sets of those transitions. Those who are having transiting from grade six to grade seven joining junior secondary, and those who will be going to form one in the current system." Said Misori.
The Competency-based Curriculum (CBC) also proposed the scrapping of the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination after the 6th year. Alternatively, the task force suggested that the exams be done after the first of the end of junior secondary.
The assessment will then assist in placing learners in various senior secondary schools. From that point, another examination will be taken at the end of the senior secondary which will help place the students in tertiary institutions.
Under the CBC, pupils are expected to spend 2 years in pre-primary, 6 years in primary, 3 years in junior secondary and another three in senior secondary school.
The new education system that was rolled out by the Ministry of Education mandates a 17-year-stay in school as opposed to the 8-4-4 system which totalled 16 years.
The major discrepancy between the 8-4-4 system and the new CBC system is that the years' learners spend in school are being restructured to 2-6-3-3-3.
All learners take 2 years of Pre-primary, then 6 years of Primary, and then 3 years of Junior School. If you pass the Grade 9 exams at 15 at the end of Junior School, you can then proceed to 3 years of Senior School. University under CBC will be just three years instead of four.
Education Chief Administrative Secretary, CAS, Dr Sara Ruto, said the implementation will see parents have quality time with their children and support their growth, which has not been the case.
Ruto said that students have been spending much of their time in school especially those who attend boarding schools from class one to secondary school.
Speaking in Embu town during a meeting with the union delegates from upper and lower eastern regions Misori said teachers in boarding schools are more burdened as they have to play a double role of teaching and parenting
"Nobody seems to be talking about it currently but it is going to be an issue. Now what is going to happen and what has already happened is that we have 100 percent transition." he said the situation
He added that those students who are in grade 7 and grade 8 are still very young to be subjected to staying away from their parents adding a lot of work to the teachers adding that children are also missing the comfort of their families and their siblings.
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