Junior School autonomy row follows heads to Mombasa
A dispute over who should run Junior Schools has followed Kenya's primary school heads to Mombasa, where the Kenya Comprehensive Schools Heads Association (KECSHA) opened its four-day annual conference on Monday, November 9. More than 15,000 headteachers are expected to discuss school leadership, funding and Competency-Based Education (CBE).
Junior School teachers want their own principals, deputies, heads of department and boards of management for Grades 7 to 9. The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) backs them. It says these teachers hold university degrees with secondary-school specialisations and should not be supervised by heads with primary qualifications. It is also pressing for separate budgets, direct government capitation and properly equipped laboratories.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) wants the comprehensive model kept. Speaking to delegates, Secretary-General Collins Oyuu warned against letting the debate divide teachers. "From ECDE to Grade 9, we are one school," he said.
KECSHA's leadership agrees. National Chairman Fuad Ali has said plainly: "We are not for autonomy." Heads argue that one administration makes better use of shared facilities, keeps learning continuous and avoids new costs. They add that the arrangement follows recommendations of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms.
The government has not settled the matter. At World Teachers' Day on October 5, Junior School teachers challenged President William Ruto to create a separate leadership structure. He told them, "Give me time to go and work on it," and promised to come back to them. Autonomy was among the most contentious issues at public forums on six proposed education reform bills, and the National Assembly's Education Committee is still consulting stakeholders.
Ruto is due to give the keynote address on Thursday, when the conference closes, according to KECSHA's Ali.
Capitation is also high on the agenda. Heads say schools implementing CBE are under growing financial pressure, and Junior Schools need specialised facilities and learning materials.
