PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Once again the Teachers in public schools have gone on strike just as the children are returning from a four weeks holiday to a very busy trimester that has public standardized examination to be done in about eight weeks. They are the examinations that determine the end of elementary education and the end of High School studies in Kenyan system of education. Teachers know very well that they and students have to take the time left seriously to cover the syllabus and do revision before the date of examination.
The boycott has been called to press the government to pay them higher salaries and the Union of Teachers has warned that they would only call off the strike if the new salaries are paid as directed by the court. Although all the schools opened on Monday, August 31, public school teachers have been on a go-slow, awaiting instructions from their union. Local papers in Kenya have reported that Parents have been instructed to keep the children at home as this fight for pay continues.
A Standard Eight (eighth grader) pupil at one of the primary schools said the strike hurt her preparations for national exams which start next month. “Our hopes of performing well in our Kenya Certificate of Primary Examination exams is shattered if the strike continues,” she said.
Two weeks after the strike started the public school teachers and the Government have not come to a settlement and the Ministry of Education is considering closing public schools due to the ongoing teachers’ strike. However, the minister ruled out postponement of national examinations scheduled to start next month. The Education minister admitted that a large number of students in public primary and secondary schools and other institutions had gone largely untaught since the term began on September 1 due to the strike which started the following day.
The minister has appealed to all teachers to return to work in the interest of parents and children, especially those who will be taking the national exams.
In a case like this many students will not have covered the expected syllabus for examinations which means they will not be well prepared for furthering their studies either in High School for the elementary school candidates and college studies for those who are completing their High School studies.
FATHER NTAIYIA JUBILEE SCHOOL: Like all private schools our teachers are not on strike because they are not under the country’s teachers’ union. But with general announcement that teachers are on strike there rises a degree of confusion and parents, especially those in remote places who have children in private schools, may not decide immediately to bring their children back to school in fear that after a long trip by public means they could return home with their children. However, with the help of cell phones services most of them can call the school and would be able to know that learning is going on in the School.
Report from Father Ntaiyia Jubilee School indicated that learning has been continuing and that all children’s activities for this trimester are moving along well. It is my hope that our candidates for the public examination this year will do well and that the general effects of the public schools teachers’ strike in the country will not affect their performance.
EDUCATION FOR ALL GLOBAL MONITORING: There is a disturbing report that one million children are still out of school in Kenya. While this is almost half the number in 1999 it is still the ninth highest of any country in the world. The report further says that primary education is not of sufficient quality to ensure that all children can learn the basics. Among young men aged 15-29 years who had left school after six years of schooling, 6% were illiterate and 26% were semi-illiterate. The figures are even worse for young women, with 9% illiterate and 30% semi-literate after being in school for six years.
The proportion of semi-literate or illiterate women after six years of schooling has worsened in recent years: In 2003 24% were in this situation compared with 39% in 2008. In many cases it has been found that less than a third of children enrolled in Grade 3 have basic Grade 2 level literacy and numeracy skills; a significant number of children do not possess foundational Grade 2 level skills even as they approach the end of the primary school cycle in some areas. The readers will recall that each year I have reported how teachers in Father Ntaiyia Jubilee School have to work hard to bring new children to the standard expected of them after they transfer to us from other schools.
It is reported that progress in education is not reaching the marginalized (nomadic – Maasai) people. The poor, and girls most of all have less chance of making it to school. In 2008, in Nairobi capital of Kenya almost all children from rich households had been to school, whether boy or girl. But a good percentage of poor girls and girls living in some Nomadic areas had never been to school. Secondary schools are also out of the reach for the poor because even after the abolition of school fees, it is said indirect costs are still twelve to twenty times as much as the monthly income of parents of rural areas, leaving secondary school out of reach for the poorest households.
Fr. Symon