Teachers say no to strict exam rules and ranking

**KENYA PRIMARY SCHOOLS HEAD TEACHERS ASSOCIATION ANNUAL DELEGATES CONFERENCE IN MOMBASA PHOTO: COURTESY**

Delegates and teachers have rejected proposals to reintroduce caning, national examinations ranking and stringent regulations to combat exam cheating.

About 10,000 head teachers attending the Kenya Primary Schools Head-teachers Association annual conference at Sheikh Khalifa Secondary School in Mombasa booed down a Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) official when he announced a set of regulations proposing to hold head teachers responsible for any examinationcheating.

At the same time, delegates supporting child rights opposed proposals to reintroduce corporal punishment to curb indiscipline, warning this could be counter-productive.

Instead, they said, teachers and school managements should embrace democratic systems.Many education sector players had proposed the re-introduction of corporal punishment following rampant cases of arson, which have been linked to indiscipline.

Meanwhile, the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) has opposed a recent move by the National Assembly to reintroduce ranking of primary and secondary schools, which was abolished in 2014 by former Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi.

KICD believes ranking is based on a flawed formula that assumes all schools are the same or that skills and talents can be compared.The packed hall erupted into jeers and catcalls, forcing Knec Deputy Secretary in charge of Field Administration Mahumud Ibrahim to cut short his speech after announcing that school heads would be personally held liable for examination leakages in their schools.

OFFER SECURITY Mr Ibrahim, who was speaking on behalf of acting Knec CEO Mercy Karogo, was shouted down and out of the stage by teachers who claimed he was declaring a unilateral policy.

Kepsha national officials watched in shock and embarrassment as Ibrahim left the hall briefly as national chairman Shem Ndolo attempted to cool down tempers.“This directive is ridiculous in thefirst place.

No consultation was done with key education stakeholders before it was arrived at. In fact, the role of collection of examination papers is not to be entrusted to school heads.

“If today they make school heads responsible for collection of examination papers, then who knows, tomorrow they might even ask school heads to guard or offer security during examinations,” Dan Aloo, Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Kilindini branch executive secretary said as Ibrahim left the hall.

When he returned, Ibrahim said teachers would be asked to give their views on the proposals to Knec. He also said head teachers would also be paid for their efforts in exam administration.

“Head teachers will not give free services during the national examinations as they will be adequately remunerated,” he said amid chants of “How much? How much?”The Knec official said the new office was determined to establish a clean image for itself.

Mr Aloo said anyone wishing to make pronouncements on policy issues pertaining to the education sector should first ensure due diligence is taken for adequate consultations.

“Head teachers cannot be subjected to picking of examination materials. In the first place, the school heads have roles as centre (examination) organisers and their obligation is to systematically ensure candidates have a conducive environment to undertake the said examinations,” he reiterated.

He added that Knut fully supports all reforms geared towards having a holistic education sector in the country, but insisted on adequate consultation for all stakeholders.

KICD acting Chief Executive Officer Julius Jwan said the proposal to bring back ranking was ill-advised.

“As we go out to rank, we forget that there is diversity among our young learners as we tend to put undue pressure on them and on educational institutions,” said Mr Jwan.He said as a career educationist with over three decades in the sector, he supports proposals in the new curriculum of education, which will do away with exam rankings.

“There are standards that a child or a young learner in that purpose is suppose to achieve. It is the teacher who handles the learner on a daily basis who can identify extent of standards of students achieved.

“It would be wrong and unfair to make learners compete among themselves as they have different talents, skills and interests,” said the KICD boss.

He said undue pressure as a result of having to excel in national examinations leads to forgetting of other virtues in holistic education that a child or a young learner has to acquire.

“Ethical behaviour and other core values get sacrificed at the altar of academic performance as the focus tends to be on excelling in national examinations,” said Jwan.

He said it would be prudent for players in the sector to focus more on character-building and the need to emphasise more on emotional intelligence, as well as being able to tap into talents and skills that young learners possess as they seek to pursue various fields of interests in life.

“Ranking is not one of the parameters of learning,” he said.

Meanwhile, children’s rights lobbies said caning was counterproductive and appealed to teachers and schools administrations to shun autocracy and embrace dialogue.

They said teachers could no longer afford to manage schools through violence and intimidation.

“Actually, the Ministry of Education and Teachers Service Commission should take appropriate action against teachers using corporal punishment in learning institutions if students’ unrest is to be contained,” said Kenya Primary Schools Children’s Government President Hesbon Ngoshe.

“Caning in schools is an issue that has been overtaken by time and what children need now is to be protected from protesters and demonstrators,” said Mr Ngoshe.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing Kepsha meeting.Briefing Unicef Kenya Country Representative Werner Schultink when he visited their stand at the conference, Ngoshe said his government had come up with 10 resolutions, which had been handed over to the Education ministry.