The education sector has been stirred up. The new Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i appears to have hit the ground running; judging by the happenings in the sector lately.
He came on board at a time the sector was besieged by a standoff between the Teachers Service Commission on one side and teachers' unions on the other over a 50-60 per cent salary increment awarded to teachers by the Industrial Court. Teachers' strikes in the recent past have become the norm, rather than the exception.
Not only has Dr Matiang'i dissolved boards of universities that seemed moribund, random and impromptu visits to schools depict him as a hands-on manager and already they are causing consternation among some school head teachers who, for a long time, have not been subjected to accountability tests.
The introduction of new rules requiring informal schools to register afresh in a bid to improve falling education standards is a move in the right direction. No doubt, a few people have used the lack of controls and the thirst for education to engage in racketeering.
Dr Matiang'i has also questioned the legality of the Musau Ndunda-led Kenya National Association of Parents and asked schools to stop remitting money to the association. It remains unclear why such an order had not been issued before, but it points to some of the numerous loopholes in the education sector that need to be plugged.
Yet even as Dr Matiang'i seeks to improve the education sector, he must beware of the pitfalls. While the Commission for University Education acted within its mandate and the law in ordering the closure of 10 of the 13 satellite universities of Kisii University for contravening education regulations and standards, he later prevailed upon CUE to rescind its decision. This could easily have sent the wrong message that Dr Matiang'i does not feel constrained by the very same rules he seeks to enforce.
He must also tread with caution where schools that offer the only hope for the poor and underprivileged in society, like the Bridge International academies are concerned. Closing them outright, as Knut demands, could be counter-productive to his goal to ensure all children get education; the choice-giver, the door-opener, the great leveller.
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