TSC directs Kenya's head teachers and their deputies to live in schools

The ruins of a dormitory at St Patrick’s Boys High School in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet County. The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has now ordered principals and their deputies to live in the schools where they work. (PHOTO: PETER OCHIENG'/ STANDARD)

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has ordered principals and their deputies to live in the schools where they work.

TSC also directed boarding administrators and other key administrative staff to be living in their school compounds. These are part of resolutions TSC reached with the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) as cases of school fires continued to be reported.

The teachers’ employer also insisted it will continue to ensure teachers and school managers don’t work in their home areas. 

“This should pre-empt conflicts emanating from vested interests. It will also ensure principals are not perceived to be representing partisan interests,” said TSC boss Njeri Macharia.

Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i will today meet the clergy and representatives of secondary schools’ head teachers.

TSC and KESSHA’s resolution may see some teachers and even some school heads being transferred.

Ms Macharia was speaking after an eight-hour meeting between the commission and KESSHA to discuss the causes and tentative solutions to school fires.

In the meeting attended by TSC top officials, all KESSHA county chairpersons were required to table reports on the matter. A joint communique was later released containing the resolutions. “The discussions were candid. Some of these things we have emphasised are just cardinal and a reminder,” said Macharia.

As part of the resolutions, Macharia said TSC in conjunction with the Education ministry will introduce fully fledged offices of qualified counsellors in secondary schools to attend to address students social, academic and developmental needs.

With this, schools should have specialist counsellors instead of teachers who double up as school counsellors.

“We will work with all principals and stakeholders to establish a robust communication and participation framework to fully involve the students, teachers, parents and other key stakeholders in the running of schools,” the communique presented by Macharia partly read.

Continuous training 

Macharia said mechanisms had already been put in place to continuously train teachers, particularly principals, in order to equip them with necessary skills.

“A policy is already in place to operationalise professional development programmes that focus on institutional management, ICT, guidance and counselling and effective implementation of the curriculum,” said Macharia.

Earlier, TSC chairperson Lydia Nzomo had made it clear that convening the meeting was in no way an avenue to shift blame to any players.

“This is not a blame game so we do not want to point fingers. It is an appeal to all stakeholders to work together and arrest the situation,” said Ms Nzomo.

Insisting that the meeting was just coincidental with the school fires happening across the country (as TSC and school heads have always met under different circumstances), Nzomo defended teachers, saying so far they have done a commendable job in looking after students.

“Our teachers do a wonderful job. It is teachers who spend more time with the students even more than parents. More so, they need special support from parents to instil positive messages to these children. They need to know there are school councils where they can raise their issues,” said Nzomo.

But according to reports from a meeting earlier convened by Dr Matiang’i, exam cartels were said to be behind the attacks, in a scheme that involves teachers.

No evidence

Apparently, students have been instructed to burn dormitories in more than 100 schools, a scenario that has seen 107 schools so far being affected (see separate story).

“So far, there has been no evidence to tie exam scandals to fires, unlike in the past when it was a tradition during mock examinations,” said KESSHA Chairman John Awiti.

Awiti added that some schools that have been torched were not even implicated in cheating scandals.

“So we cannot entirely say that exam cheating is related to school arson. When there is a crisis, speculation will definitely emerge,” he added.

Awiti said since students were burning dormitories only, leaving out laboratories and classrooms, it may mean there was an issue with boarding facilities.

“Statistically, most schools involved in fires are boarding schools. Maybe... these students are passing a message,” he added.

Kenya National Union of Teachers Secretary General Wilson Sossion has insisted on closing schools as the immediate solution, but Awiti disagrees.

“The issue of closing schools should not even arise. This will negatively affect innocent students just because of a few others. Whoever is talking of closing schools should just stay away from such discussions,” Awiti said. He added that the term will end in two weeks and there was no guarantee that closing schools would eventually solve the problem.

“We will still reopen the schools to the same problems,” Awiti said.

On Monday, 28 students were arraigned in a Molo court and charged with attempted arson. The students from Rongai Boys High School are alleged to have committed the offence on July 22. They appeared before Molo Senior Resident Magistrate James Wanyaga and denied the charges and were released on Sh50,000 bond each. And the previous day, 32 secondary school students were arraigned before a Murang’a court charged with arson.