Performance contracts ill-timed

Performance contracting for teachers is a very good thing but misplaced for now.

It is good because it ensures performance to the satisfaction of the employer but it is based on teachers hoping that this will improve performance and have a ripple effect on education standards in public schools. This idea is good for systems which are homogeneous.

Schools in Kenya are not homogeneous. Kenyan schools do not have similar and enough resources. Not all schools have classrooms. Some have trees for classrooms. Schools have buildings ranging from mere mud walls and mud floors with corrugated iron-roofs to concrete or tiled floors, well-finished walls, good roofs and ceiling.

Some schools have electricity and modern laboratories, while other schools have no desks. The learning environment in public schools is unimaginably varied. With free primary schools education, many schools have seen the student population more than double, while the number of teachers has remained the same.

Some schools have over a hundred students per teacher while others have about 50 students or less, per teacher. The only thing that is homogeneous is the curriculum.