Knut demands laptops for all primary school teachers

KNUT secretary general Wilson Sossion (left) and his chairman Mudzo Ndzili (right) at the Mombasa Beach Hotel, June 20, 2016. [PHOTO BY GIDEON MAUNDU/STANDARD].

The government should buy laptops for all the 242,071 primary school teachers, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has demanded.

Knut yesterday said it was the government's responsibility to facilitate learning in schools and teachers should be given laptops to enable them teach well.

The teachers' new demand comes barely three days after Knut and the teachers' employer, Teachers Service Commission, signed a Collective Bargain Agreement (CBA) to create a peaceful education environment.

The government and the unions have already committed to start negotiations for another CBA that will entail better remuneration for teachers.

Yesterday, Knut said the government's move to provide laptops for the Standard One pupils only defeats the intention of transforming the education system through ICT given teachers have been left out.

The 2014 Basic Education Statistical Booklet indicates there are 201,622 teachers employed by the TSC in primary schools and 40,449 employed by schools' boards of management.

Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion said giving Standard One pupils laptops was a wrong approach because they cannot teach themselves.

He was speaking at the 41st Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) annual conference at Wild Waters Centre in Mombasa.

"Giving every Standard One pupils, who cannot read or write, a laptop instead of the teachers is having our priorities upside down. Quality teachers require quality teaching materials," Mr Sossion said.

KESSHA Chairman John Awiti raised similar sentiments the day before, when he said today's student is ahead of the teacher in technology.

Mr Awiti urged the government to extend the laptop project to secondary school students and allow them to use iPads and laptops in school because "that is the modern way of doing things".

Mr Sossion told the conference that developed countries and the Asian tigers such as Malaysia, Korea and Singapore, which were at par with Kenya at independence, have advanced economically due to their good education systems driven by technology.

Sossion, who was among panelists discussing "The 21st Century Teacher – the expectations", said the government must invest heavily in education for the country to attain its development goals.

He said that despite its advantage as an economic and investment hub in the East African region, Kenya lags behind because it lacks an education system that is not in tandem with modern technological changes.

He said there was need for a national conference of all stakeholders to brainstorm the overhaul of the entire education system which, he said, had not changed since independence.

He said that unless the country adopts a technology-based education system that will promote creativity and innovation, it will not attain desired economic development. Sossion said poor pay makes young people despise the teaching profession.