Parents’ fears over ‘old’ teachers

By CAROLINE RWENJI

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) should effect frequent transfers for primary school head teachers to prevent cases of poor management, parents have said.

In a survey carried out in various parts of the country, parents blamed long serving head teachers for bad management of public primary schools.

According to observations made by parents in the Kenya School Report Card, some head teachers and teachers who have served in schools for ten years or more were poor managers.

“Some head teachers and teachers have served ten years and even more in the same school. From the assessment, the parents blame this group of school heads for poor management,” the report stated.

While presenting the report, project officer Wolde Wesa noted that some head teachers have been managing the same schools for more than 30 years.

He said TSC should effect regular transfers of teachers to ensure schools do not remain stagnant.

Majority of the parents further noted that head teachers were not open in the running of school affairs especially matters relating to finances and called for transparency and accountability. They also demanded to be informed on how school resources and funds are used.

Funds

About 47 per cent of the parents demanded that all monies received by schools should be accounted for in line with the Ministry of Education policy.

Mr Wesa explained that these funds include development money, cash set aside for invigilators and supervisors during examinations, money to purchase exercise and text books and online registration, which is usually above normal rates from what has been stated by the Kenya National Examination Council. The parents were also dissatisfied with the distribution and management of school instructional material.

Despite some schools having inadequate textbooks to students ratio, it was noted that management in some schools locked up the same in cupboards. Other parents said that schools management could not account for how the instructional and learning materials were procured.

The report also noted that some regions have primary schools without classrooms or proper sanitation.

Wesa cited a school in Wajir where students have their classes under acacia trees. The only classroom in one of the schools is a mud walled grass thatched hut that was constructed by the parents.

 “There are a lot of funds and resources going to schools. Schools receive funds from Community Development Funds, Local Authority Funds, Free Primary Education, and District Education Board Funds among others yet there are pupils studying under trees or poorly constructed structures,” he said.

The school report card is an annual scorecard that is filled by parents with children in public primary schools annually.

The National Taxpayers Association chairman Peter Kubebea said during the launch that the scorecard was set up to focus on performance in schools in ten key areas.

These include school safety and protection, school facilities, access to textbooks, continuous assessments, water and sanitation. Other areas are roles of children in schools, management of instructional material, performance of the school management committees, homework assignments and marking and parental responsibilities.

Mr Kubebea, however, noted that parents’ involvement in their children’s schools was dismal and thus contributed to poor performance.

“In Kenya, poor linkage between parental involvement in public schools has reduced their capacity to ensure provision of quality education,” This, he said, has reduced the capacity to provide quality education. On the other hand, he pointed out that parents are often deemed to be illiterate outsiders with no mandate to monitor schools thus leading to poor participation.

In all the ten School Report Card categories, parental responsibility received the lowest ratings, giving an impression that most parents are detached from their children’s education.

The parents in their observations also noted that water and sanitation facilities in some schools especially those in arid and semi-arid regions were few or non-existent. Absenteeism by teaches was also blamed for poor performance in primary schools.

The School Report Card was based on findings from 5,000 public schools.

Next, the teachers will be involved in a ten-month implementation period, which will involve monthly activities highlighted in the scorecard. They are expected to report on the management of instructional material, physically count textbooks and also meet gender and educational statistics.