Schools come alive after strike with focus on recovering time lost

A cclass in session Monday at Ang’ongo Primary School in Muhoroni, Kisumu County, following the teachers decision to halt their strike. (Photo: Collins Oduor/Standard)

Public schools have reopened after a month-long strike by teachers, but the relief for students and parents has given way to other concerns about the shortest and critical term of the school calendar year.

Monday, parents and their children flocked to bus stations as boarding schools reopened, while schools that were ghost centres for the past few weeks suddenly came alive with ringing of bells and cheering as excited pupils played at break time.

But of immediate concern is whether students will make up for the lost time, especially those scheduled to sit for national examinations. Some 525,802 candidates will start writing their Kenya Certificate Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations from October 12, while another 937,467 candidates sit their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams from November 10.

Candidates from public schools will be expected to compete with their colleagues from private schools where learning continued uninterrupted.

Parklands Boys Principal Stephen Luseno said the challenge at hand is how to re-adjust the calendar. "I will be having a meeting with the teachers to see how to re-adjust and review our programmes to recover the lost five weeks," said Luseno.

The Kenya National Association of Parents (KNAP) has suggested that public schools should extend learning to December. The Government has, however, explained that the examinations calendar will not be disrupted.

"Students from private institutions have been in class throughout the strike while those in public schools were at home and by the time they sit their exams they'll have learnt halfway yet are expected to compete against their counterparts," said KNAP Chairman Musau Ndunda.

Parents also have to reckon with budgetary constraints as besides the unplanned expenditure occasioned by the month-long stay with children at home, they are required to clear school fees arrears.

Text messages seen by The Standard from head teachers of some schools asked parents who will not have cleared the fees on reporting date that their children will be sent back home.

"Report back to school on Monday with full school fees. Failure will see your child returned home until the school fees are cleared," read one SMS.

But there is also a dispute over the fate of fees paid prior to the strike. "Schools re-opened recently but children were sent home almost immediately. Some of us took loans and paid their full fees. It is advisable that the fees are split and half of it to be carried forward to next year," said Evans Obiri, a parent.

"They deserve to be refunded a section of their money because their children will only be in school for seven weeks as opposed to the stipulated 15 weeks," Ndunda said Monday.

For children like Vivian Nasambu, a Standard Seven pupil at Kanduyi DEB primary school in Bungoma, all they want is their teachers to work harder.

"I have suffered at home. I didn't get enough time to study because of the work load in the house. Let teachers help us recover so that we don't have to move to next year without finishing the syllabus," Nasambu said.

Kenya National Union of Teachers Secretary General Wilson Sossion said the Teachers Service Commission should not expect teachers to go to class without their September pay.

"TSC must comply with the orders. We have complied and expect them to act in good faith and pay the teachers. Court orders cannot be applied selectively," said Sossion.