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Image: GEORGE MURAGE
The National Parents Association is warning that education standards in the country could drop due to lack of support from the government.
The association has accused the government of ignoring the Competency Based Curriculum by failing to employ more JSS teachers or construct more classes and laboratories.
This came amid a pending strike by Kenya National Union of Teachers.
The strike is due to failure by the government to implement the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement and hiring of 20,000 intern teachers.
According to NPA secretary general Eskimos Kobia, the current crisis was a recipe for chaos in public schools across the country.
He said the government had failed to keep its promise of constructing more classes and laboratories for JSS as promised. This is despite Treasury allocation Sh1 billion for the exercise.
“The most affected are students in public schools who have continued to suffer as the government fails to keep its promise of even employing the 20,000 intern teachers,” he said.
Speaking in Naivasha, Kobia said the pending strike by the teachers would further affect the new curriculum which faced challenges every day.
He said due to the delay in releasing the capitation funds, subordinate staff in public schools had gone without salaries while suppliers had withdrawn their services.
“As schools prepare to open for the third term, there are fears that students could miss out on food and learning materials as there are no funds,” he said.
A senior official from Kenya Secondary School Heads Association admitted that all was not well in the education sector.
The official who talked of intimidation and threats from senior officers in the ministry, said they had sought audience with the new CS over the crisis.
“Secondary schools are suffering due to lack of financial support from the state forcing some to shelve some exercises. This will definitely affect education standards,” the official said.
Speaking earlier, Knut secretary general Collins Oyuu said the government had reduced capitation fees for senior secondary schools from Sh21,000 to Sh17,000 without any explanation.
“Learning in our schools has been on its knees. The situation is due to failure by the government to release the capitation fees as provided by the law,” he said.
Oyuu added that as a result of the financial impasse, school principals had been forced to seek extra levies from parents to run the institutions.