Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association chairman Indimuli Kahi at a past event. [Photo/Business Daily]
The Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association now wants the infrastructure in schools improved and more teachers hired if the proposal to introduce free secondary education after the August polls to ensure quality standards.
The association's chairman Indimuli Kahi who welcomed the promise of free secondary studies from both the Jubilee Party and National Super Alliance (NASA) said addressing the issues will ensure a smooth process, the Nation has reported.“We are happy when we hear that education will be free but what we want to urge is that they should ensure the system runs smoothly. We know every year there are students who miss the chance to proceed to secondary schools because of one reason or the other, but once education is made free we will receive many students,” said Kahi in Mombasa.He also wants the issue of staff employed by the school administration, among them bursars and librarians, addressed.“We will be happy to have enough students in our schools but we must ensure all requirements needed for quality education are in place,” the chairman noted.He was addressing journalists Sunday ahead of the 42nd school heads conference themed; “Education Reforms, Walking the Policy Talk” which will be held at Wild Waters Resort.Several education policies as well as the new 2-6-6-3 curriculum will be discussed during the meeting.“We will also look at the challenges facing those policies, among them the issue of radicalisation and extremism, the new education system, infrastructure and finance policies. We will also see how we can make the policies better to improve our education sector,” Kahi said.President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to officially open the forum on Tuesday.Kahi at the same time urged politicians to conduct peaceful campaigns ahead of the August 8 general election.“This being an election year, the school heads of this nation are advocating peaceful elections and we also want to ask them not to use our students to perpetuate violence because we understand that our students will be home and they are the easy targets for recruitment,” he said.