Streamline reporting structures in education sector to avoid conflicts

KNUT Secretary General Henry Collins Oyuu speaks during a past presser. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard] The Kenyan education system has undergone several reforms since 1963. This is because it is required to align itself with market demands and to respond to the needs of society. The formation of the Ministry of Education was a major milestone for ensuring there is a proper structure of monitoring and evaluating all educational programmes in the country at all levels, and ensuring that they comply with existing standards regionally and globally. The Education ministry initially worked in conjunction with other departments, including the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) which was in charge of the management of human resources. The functions of teacher management were several, which led to the need for the sector to consider making an independent commission that would handle teacher management matters. It is as a result of this that the TSC was made an independent institution and anchored in the major constitutional amendments that culminated in the promulgation of the Kenya Constitution 2010. The new Constitution, apart from bringing in a new lease of life in many aspects of public entitlements and management, also made management of fundamental rights and freedoms absolutely clear and interpretable. The 2022 Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms (PWPER) that concluded its work in mid-December 2022, highlighted the reporting structures in the education sector, especially on the matter of quality assurance. This has continued to be a matter of contention between the Ministry of Education Science and Technology (MOEST) and the TSC. We all know that curriculum development is done by the MOEST through KICD. We are also aware that it is the role of the ministry, in this regard, to ensure the quality of the curriculum is of the expected standards. The responsibility The ministry has also to ensure that content delivery is done in the prescribed and designed time. This means timetabling, lesson planning and development of schemes of work should be done in accordance with the prescribed guidelines. On the other hand, TSC has the responsibility of ensuring that it registers trained, qualified and reputable teachers to implement the curriculum. The quality of teachers is measured by their grades and the levels they are expected to teach such as; certificate teachers, diploma, degree, post graduate et cetera. This ensures they are aligned to teaching levels such as Early Childhood Education, elementary education, secondary education and college education, which have tertiary and university education respectively. TSC must ensure teachers provide quality teaching and learning in schools by maintaining the standards prescribed by the Ministry of Education. At this level, there is no crisis. The Ministry of Education Science and Technology ensures the of the quality curriculum, which includes curriculum designs and standards. And the TSC ensures quality in the delivery of the curriculum and professional development of teachers thorugh Teacher Professional Development (TPD). It also appraises teachers. Their roles are completely different and clear. We have witnessed clashes between the Ministry and the TSC on the same and seen that it is unnecessary. We call upon these two very important entities, which have the same intention, to learn to keep their lanes and maintain peace among themselves so that with interventions meant to streamline the sector, these reporting structures are maintained, observed and respected. With the coming of junior secondary schools and a proposal that they be domiciled in primary schools, there should be clear leadership and administrative structure for the same. Some have proposed that this section be headed by head teachers of primary schools while others want them headed by stand-alone heads. If they are headed by stand-alone heads, then they won't be under primary schools. They will be an independent structure, that may need a different name say, middle schools. The ministry should therefore make its reporting structures clear so that it is known where they belong. The TSC has already started placing teachers from primary schools with qualifications to teach junior secondary school. We propose a clear leadership structure in junior secondary school. For the sector to grow, reporting structure has to be aligned properly.

Streamline reporting structures in education sector to avoid conflicts

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