“Some of the schools’ teachers completed their secondary education as early as 1980s and have received no special training in education, others are just Form Four leavers regardless of what they scored in KCSE and only few of these schools have university students teaching there while on vacations,” he says.
He says in five years, his West Kadem location has got more than six new secondary schools.
Financial constraints
“Having schools is not bad, but I think we should be developing one at a time,” he urges.
Similar sentiments are echoed by Mr Vincent Makori, a secondary school principal in Nyamira. He says such schools could turn a ‘curse’ if the trend is not controlled. He says most of these schools have low student population leading to inadequate funds hence can’t hire qualified teachers and subordinates.
The quality of students admitted to the schools is questionable as educationists argue the heads would want to see the classes full regardless of a student’s performance in KCPE. Mr Makori says some schools admit students with less than 200 out of 500 marks in KCPE to attract more students for bigger population.
Emuhaya DEO Pamela Akello says even though the establishment of such schools is in line with Government policies on expanding education, quality has to be a priority.
“We should not offer anything less than quality education,” she remarks.
She says since teachers in such school are Form Four leavers, there is no continuity or consistence in teaching methods because students are taught by “teachers on the move”.
Schools Vs Transition rates
“One teaches for months and goes away, leaving students in the hands of another who might also not take longer,” she adds.
However, Kuppet Secretary-General Akello Misori says these schools improve transition rates besides enhancing literacy level.
