By Standard team
Abandoned candidates preparing for end of year examinations in public primary and secondary schools in Mombasa County sent pleas to teachers and the Government to end the stalemate over pay increment.
“We wish that teachers could agree on what the Government is offering and return to school to continue teaching,’’ Emilly Achieng, 20, and a Form Four candidate at Changamwe Secondary School, said.
Her counterpart Priscillah Atieno said it was wrong for the Government to fail to abide by an earlier agreement on salary hike for teachers.
At the Changamwe Secondary School, we encountered Form Four candidates in class alone.
“We have opted to try and catch up on revision. Group studies are quite helpful and we report to school early in the morning,” Stanley Mandela, a Fourth Former said.
For Fatma Amin, another Form Four candidate at the same school, the teachers’ strike could not have come at a more crucial time.
“We are yet to carry out any meaningful revision as we lack enough papers,” Amin said.
In Central Kenya, a spot check by The Standard showed some candidates learning unattended in schools.
In some schools in Murang’a, only candidates were in class revising in groups.
Spotted loitering
At Vidhu Ramji and Mjini primary schools, most candidates were in school preparing for the examinations, while their other colleagues could be spotted loitering in market centres.
It also emerged that some parents in the region have joined hands and hired teachers to teach their children at home.
“At first we thought of using schools but after consultations we found it dangerous for the teachers and children,” said Peter Kuria, declining to divulge where learning has been taking place.
The situation is similar in Nyanza. At St Marks Obambo Mixed Secondary in Kisumu County, a number of Form Four students were studying on their own.
At Kisumu Girls, the scenario has been replicated. The Principal, Mary Akunja, told The Standard that all the 280 Form Four candidates had gone for a symposium out of the school.
At Victoria and MM Shah Primary Schools no pupils were in the institutions, save for Early Childhood Education Development sections that was ongoing in the two schools.
Public libraries nationwide have been filled by learners, with some of them studying outside the premises.
“The library has been overwhelmed since the strike began. Some of the pupils and students have to sit outside, since it full,” said Moses Imbayi, a librarian at Kisumu Kenya National library.
Since the strike began the number of students and pupils visiting the facility has increased from 1,000 to 2,000, a scenario that is giving those in charge of the institution sleepless nights.
Senior manager Lorna Aroko said the few materials and the small space available has forced them to organise shifts for those intending to use the facility.
Edwin Kamau, a Class five pupil at Uasin Gishu Primary School who had gone to check whether teachers had turned up amid the offer by Education minister but was forced to go back home since there was no learning.
