Education Cabinet Secretary Prof Jacob Kaimenyi has been told to stop dancing to the whims of students and streamline the education sector.
Kisumu County chairman Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) Zablon Awange said students should not dictate what they want.
Awange said the CS has banned mock examinations as a way of ending student unrest that has been witnessed across the country in the recent past.
He said the strikes have been there but mostly they have been addressed through counselling and not banning of mock exams.
“It is through guidance and counselling that teachers have managed to suppress strikes, banning mock is not the solution,” he said.
The unionist said mock exams are given to gauge the capability of students before the main examinations and should not be scrapped.
Speaking to journalists in Kisumu on Wednesday, Awange said the trend might lead to the scrapping of other educational policies to address students’ demands.
He said students should not be given what they want but must be given direction. “What if the students start striking that they don’t want uniforms, would we ban that and replace it with civilians, we must be careful lest we fall into the trap of students,” he said.
Awange further called on parents to stop abdicating their parenting role to teachers.
“Parents have failed to do their parenting role, leaving everything to teachers who might also be overwhelmed. That is why we are seeing bad behaviour among school going children,” he said.