Primary heads to be elevated to lead junior secondary

Most of the head teachers in primary schools are graduates who deserve promotion. [iStockphoto] Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has said the process to promote teachers who have stagnated in the same grade has started. Machogu noted that among those to be promoted are primary school head teachers to the principal level, given that the Junior Secondary schools are domiciled in their institutions. "All P1 teachers heading primary schools will be promoted from grade C3 and above as principals of Junior Secondary Schools," he said. Addressing the Kenya Primary School Heads Association (Kepsha) conference in Mombasa, on Wednesday, during their 20th anniversary, the CS said most of the head teachers in primary schools are graduates who deserve promotion. He commended head teachers who have PhD in various education fields and asked the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to promote them as they had proved they were competent enough to do other jobs. Machogu said this after Kepsha Chairman Johnson Nzioka paraded the head teachers who have been at the helm of various schools for many years. "I want officials in my Ministry of Education and Teachers Service Commission to make sure these teachers with PhD are given jobs such as quality assurance, which the government has been looking for," he said. The CS, who was accompanied by Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang, warned high school principals against increasing school fees. The event was also attended by TSC chairman Jamleck Muturi and Konza University Vice Chancellor Elijah Omwenga. Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Collins Oyuu welcomed the CS's call for promotion terming it a big win for the primary head teachers. "I want to commend CS of Education for recognizing that the head teachers of these schools are all qualified because most of them are graduates," said Oyuu. "I wish to state that whoever thinks that the head teacher of a primary school does not hold a degree is wrong because we have PhD holders manning various schools in the country," he added. He concurred with members of the Education Committee who had commended primary school teachers for not abetting cheating in national examinations, unlike some of their counterparts in high schools who had been cited for such vice. Oyuu said the head teachers of primary schools have been playing a big role in ensuring there was no cheating in the Kenya Certificate for Primary Examination (KCPE). He thanked the government for taking the teachers back to their home district and proposed that all headteachers who will be promoted should not be transferred to other counties. The union boss concurred with Machogu that school fees should not be increased. He defended the head teachers against accusations of increasing the fees and pointed out that the school boards were to blame for the arbitrary increase of school fees, in some schools. "No single principal can increase the school fees without the board members' approval, and that is why the board members and not the principals are to blame," said Oyuu. Prof Omwenga asked the teachers to take advantage of Open University, which had programes for those who have not attained minimum qualification for joining local universities, which want only applicants with C plus and above. "We have a flexible entrance qualification programme for the teachers who have no entrance requirement of the local universities," he said.

Primary heads to be elevated to lead junior secondary

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