More than 100 schools have been affected by protests in the past two months where property worth millions has been destroyed and more than 150 students charged in court.
Despite the glaring indiscipline exhibited by students, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) have blamed the protests on changes made to the school calendar by Education CS Dr Fred Matiang’i early this year.
Of interest though is the push by KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion to have schools closed to ‘ease tension and avert further damage to property’ and instead of condemning the pruritic reaction by students who seem hell-bent on destroying schools, Sossion has been soft on them but laying the blame on Dr Matiang’i’s directive.
There have also been allegations of cartels making millions from leaking Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) papers, an issue that is yet to be fully dissected to understand how deeply rooted it is in the education system.
There is a likelihood that the cartel is run by well-connected individuals and unless Sossion and his Kuppet counterpart seek to address the underlying issues which are affecting students, then he could be seen as a crusader for anarchy.
Sossion, on Tuesday, insisted that the term dates were the problem saying: “The government should close schools for a while and release tension so that it spares parents the cost of infrastructure. The cause of this tension is the revision of term dates.”
He missed to mention the exam cartels which have been accused of creating revolt in schools but absolved teachers of blame saying it was students who were responsible.
Kuppet Secretary-General Akelo Misori, however, differed with Sossion saying closing schools would not solve the problem. He acknowledged that exam cheating cartels were fighting back since they wanted a return on their investment.
This return may however not be possible since the tough guidelines imposed by Dr Matiang’i have sealed loopholes that would have been exploited.
To make sense of the term dates, second term was initially set to end on August 5 but was extended to August 12 and the opening date is August 29. This has effectively shortening the August holiday by two weeks from the previous four. Third term, however, will last nine weeks from the previous 12 meaning it has been shortened by three weeks which makes up for the shortened August break.
Third term will begin on August 29 and end on October 28. The changes were introduced as part of broader measures to curb cheating in exams.
On Tuesday, Dr Matiang’i ruled out ending the term prematurely. He said the arson attacks only affected a small percentage of schools which did not warrant a drastic decision which would disrupt the majority of schools operating normally.
Dr Matiang’i has denied claims he did not consult head teachers and unions on changes to the school calendar saying they were represented at the May press conference where he announced the changes.
The CS talked of a clique of head teachers trying to push him out of office because of the reforms he has introduced in the ministry citing conduct of national examinations and the overhauling of procurement systems to give the government greater say in the supply process.
He added that some principals were being investigated over theft of funds and irregular tendering and that some were unhappy with his impromptu visits to schools. Dr Matiang’i said he would see all the reforms “to their logical conclusion” despite the resistance.
Dr Matiang’i said more than 96 per cent of schools involved in the unrest belonged to the county, sub-county and extra county categories where students and teachers were all from the localities. He blamed local politics, clannism and petty disputes between the teachers and the local communities.