NAIROBI: Ranking of schools and candidates in national examinations will resume after Members of Parliament (MPs) voted to bring back the system that had been banned by the Ministry of Education.
Wednesday, parliamentarians resolved that the Government, through the ministry, should immediately revert to the ranking system for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams.
But Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi, who coincidentally had a session with the Senate Committee of Education, immediately opposed the move. Prof Kaimenyi said by approving the motion, the MPs had contradicted a report of the last Parliament whose recommendations included a ban on ranking.
"We must agree to disagree here. I did not just wake up one morning and like a mad man decided that ranking should be banned. We acted on authorities of many reports that had recommended the same," he said.
Referring to the report of the committee chaired by former Mosop MP David Koech, Kaimenyi reminded Parliament that the decision was based on previous reports.
"It was your own report in the last Parliament where the committee was looking at strikes that recommended the ban on ranking. You adopted it. How come you now want to go against your own report?" he asked.
MPs approved the motion sponsored by Kimilili lawmaker Chris Wamalwa that described ranking as "long-held tradition in the sector both locally and internationally".
But the MPs' decision appeared to open a row between the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet).
IMPEACH KAIMENYI
Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion welcomed the MPs' decision, saying they should have gone further and impeached Kaimenyi.
"They have started in the wrong direction. They should have started by impeaching the CS because they will not be voting to correct his mess daily," said Sossion.
But Kuppet disagreed, with its Secretary General Akelo Misori saying the union would support Kaimenyi because ranking has been hijacked by unscrupulous businessmen.
"MPs must know what to legislate. Ranking is a policy issue. Ranking is not useful to schools, in fact it does not enhance standards as had been said," said Misori.
Kaimenyi insisted he would not bow to pressure to reverse the ban that took effect with the release of last year's KCPE and KCSE results.
The hard-line position puts him in a collision course with the House that expects him to report after two months on action taken to implement its resolution. MPs are known to take drastic action against Government officials who defy House resolutions.
Stay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter
House rules stipulate that the relevant CS under whose portfolio the implementation of such a resolution falls, should provide a report to the relevant committee within sixty days.
Report by Augustine Oduor, Moses Njagi and Allan Kisia
The Standard Group Plc is a
multi-media organization with investments in media platforms spanning newspaper
print operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The
Standard Group is recognized as a leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key
influence in matters of national and international interest.
join