The fight to control of 364,000 teachers played out on Wednesday after Ministry of Education snubbed a meeting called by the teachers employer to review the Teachers Service (TSC) Act.

No officer represented the parent ministry led by Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu, signaling an escalation of turf wars between Jogoo House and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

Some of the stakeholders scoffed at the ministry for failing to attend the crucial stakeholders meeting to discuss proposed amendment of the law governing the teaching profession.

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This laid bare the deepening rift between the ministry, responsible for setting education policy, and the TSC, tasked with managing teachers.

The ministry skipped the meeting held at Kenya School of Government, with no explanation or apology offered.

Janet Ouko, representing the Tunza Mtoto Coalition, termed the ministry’s absence “shameful,” highlighting the lack of collaboration and potential negative impact on the education sector.

‘I must say it is shameful that their is no representative from the Ministry of Education here as we discuss such a crucial document. TSC is the child to the ministry and they ought to be here,’ Muthoni said.

This simmering tension has boiled over in recent months, fueled by proposals to amend the TSC Act 2012, potentially expanding the commission’s powers.

The proposed changes, outlined in the TSC Amendment Bill 2024, include granting the TSC regulatory authority over teachers and control over their continuous professional development (CPD).

While some stakeholders see this as a positive step towards professionalizing the teaching force, others fear it concentrates too much power in TSC.

The ministry joined the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) that boycotted the meeting, terming the proposals “punitive” and the consultation period “short notice.”

However, the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) attended the meeting.

Kuppet National Chairman Omboko Milemba argued that the TSC, already empowered since 2012 when the outgoing Act came to force, should focus on improving service delivery instead of seeking additional power.

Milemba said from their review, the proposals border an attempt by the employer to consolidate more powers.

Bottom of Form

Kuppet’s reservations, Milemba said, include, the contentious proposal to give the TSC regulatory powers over teachers and control over CPD.

He argued that there is need for separation of powers so that the employer concentrates with staffing and teacher’s welfare as another entity handles regulatory mandate.

Milemba urged TSC to allow for a wholesome stakeholder engagement in the formulation of the regulator role.

He also called for rethinking of continuous training of teachers.

On the other hand, Kuppet Secretary General Akello Misori took note of the silence on union involvement in salary negotiation.

He said that the proposal diregards unions right entrenched in the Constitution to negotiate on behalf of their members.

The TSC proposal wants the employer to have the powers to determine teachers salaries in accordance with article 237 of the Constitution that gives Salaries and Remuneration Commission advisory role on civil servants.

“Article 41 of the Constitution is where we derive our powers but TSC has only mentioned article 237 of the Constitution in their proposal, so what is the role of Collective Bargaining Agreements?” Misori posed.

He questioned the documents silence on who will bear the cost of the CPD development programmes.

TSC had proposed that the programmes be under their purview which is also in contradiction of the presidential working party on education reforms.

The working party in its recommendation recommended for establishment of the Kenya School of Teacher and Education Management (KeSTEM) which will coordinate professional training to teachers; the entity would be under the Ministry of Education.

“Who is going to finance the professional development courses, we need to know that because this has been a contentious issue since it was adopted,” Misori said.

Teacher disciplinary process took center stage in the Wednesday meeting, with various stakeholders fingering TSC’s processes.

Misori said that top among the contentious proposals is the plan for TSC

Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (KUSNET) Secretary General James Torome however supported the proposals but called on TSC to include special needs institutions in the list of basic education.

On the other hand, school heads through their representatives termed the document timely as they pulled support.

Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association acting Chairman Willie Kuria, opposed plans to have the continuous development of teachers handled by another entity.

“If the training is not handled by the employer it will be handled by a third party and this could come with a lot of gaps,” Kuria said.

Kenya Primary School Heads Association National Chairman Johnson Nzioka called for provision of a reward system for exemplary teachers in the Act.

“We can see a long list of offenses that teachers if they commit would find themselves in trouble, why can’t we have the same for the opposite. Develop a reward system for high performers,” Nzioka said.

Kenya Women Teachers Association Secretary General, Benter Opande called on the commission to consider review of teaching standards warning that failure to involve stakeholders could lead to bias.

She further asked the TSC to reconsider the disciplinary proposals in the amendment Bill and allow the union representatives to sit with a teacher facing the disciplinary action.

“We are of the opinion that some of the punishments on the offenses listed are too harsh, we propose for a review on punishment and fines on offenses under the Act,” he said.

Secondary schools could be headed for financial crises as they open doors to 1.4 million learners joining Form One.

Some 1.2 million learners will also join Junior Secondary School (JSS) as they transit from primary school under the Competency-Based Curriculum.

It has been established that schools are yet to receive the capitation funds, a week after reopening.

A section of principals have indicated that they had not received the funds by close of business on Friday despite reassurance from the ministry when schools reopened.

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“We want to assure our schools that the funds have been released. It is a process because of systems, the funds will be in the accounts by Wednesday or Friday latest,” PS Bellio Kipsang said last Monday during the release of KCSE results at Moi Girls School, Eldoret.

The ministry in early January had indicated that Sh31 billion had been set aside for capitation to schools.

Out of the total funds, Sh4.74 billion will go towards Free Primary Education with Sh7.60 billion being capitation for JSSs for term one.

Some Sh2.80 billion is meant for school examination and invigilation fees while Sh16.20 has been factored in for Free Day Secondary School.

Attempt to reach the new Kenya Secondary School Heads Association leadership for a comment on the delay was futile as the chairman did not respond to calls.

The delay in capitation disbursement could now cause anxiety and operational crisis with Form One admission is expected to push the population of learners in secondary school to about 3.8 million.

Parents also want the ministry to make a pronouncement on the issue of extra levies.

National Parents Association chair Silas Obuhatsa urged the Teachers Service Commission to take action against schools that violate fees guidelines.

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers Secretary General Akello Misori called on the government to deploy extra teachers to schools ahead of the admission.

Misori noted that the government had committed to employ 116,000 teachers but the target is still far off.

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has announced that the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education results will be released after the first week of January.

The exams begun on October 23, and ended on November 24 with 903,260 candidates sitting for the papers.

In an interview with a popular media station, Machogu said that  currently, they are verifying the marks.

“We are done with the marking. What we are currently doing is compiling the marks, verification and validation. So that by the end of the day we release credible results,” he said.

The CS assured that the results will be credible, adding that the marking centres were increased from 35 to 40 to better the working conditions.

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He said the candidates will benefit from a new grading system, unveiled in August, which is aimed at increasing the number of those joining universities.

The system, which is part of the recommendations made by the Presidential Working Party of Education Reforms, focuses on the subjects that candidates are strong in reducing the number of compulsory subjects.

This means that the 2023 KCSE candidates will be graded in two compulsory subjects including Math and any language (Kiswahili, English) or Kenya Sign Language.

Machogu regretted that the current system is unfair to some students whose best subjects are not within the cluster and cannot be taken into account.

“Previously, compulsory subjects included Math, Kiswahili and English languages and two sciences. But this time round we will only have two compulsory subjects that is Math and English, Kiswahili or KSL,” he said.

“We are doing this to allow learners to explore subjects they are good at.”

The change will see a higher number of students qualify for university entry points.

“Even the entry grade for university education, the numbers will increase because last year we had 173,000 students out of 887,000 getting C+ and above which is 19 per cent,” Machogu said.

“Regionally, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania the percentage of people going to university is about 30 per cent.”

CS Machogu’s assurance of credible results comes days after the Kenya National Union of Teachers urged him to give examiners more time to compile and give the candidate the marks they deserve.

Knut national vice chairperson Aggrey Namisi claimed KCPE results were rushed hence having errors, pleading that the same will not be repeated with KCSE.

“Please CS Machogu, we are not in a hurry, give the markers time to analyse results well before you release, we don’t want to experience what happened during the KCPE examination release,” he said while addressing the press in Bungoma on December 23.

“Let the examiners go through the questions, mark, prepare, and give credible results.”

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has warned high school principals against hiking fees when schools reopen.

The warning follows threats of increasing fees by a section of school heads months ago, especially for feeding programmes and other consumables. They cited the steep prices of commodities, which has made the running of the learning institutions costly.

Parents have complained that some schools raise the fees silently and force compliance by sending learners home or barring them from sitting exams.

Jogoo House fears this trend will continue unless arrested ahead of Form 1 admissions on January 15, 2024.

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On Monday, Machogu said head teachers should not issue irregular circulars demanding extra payments from parents aside from what is sanctioned by Jogoo House.

He was speaking at Lenana School when he announced the results of Form 1 selection and placement.

Machogu said principals have no authority to increase fees.

He warned that principals will be punished should they be found violating the Ministry of Education’s policy on fees payment in terms of the amounts set and the manner of their collection.

The CS said the tough economy has affected many parents and increasing school fees will be unfair to them.

“I wish to state that the boarding fees charged in public secondary schools will remain unchanged in 2024,” CS Machogu said.

“If any monkey business is done anywhere, the information will come. Parents are undergoing difficult financial challenges. Unless there is express approval from my office, no fee increase should happen.”

“If I get it [that] has been increased, you [principals] will be the first victims.”

He said no schools should start releasing new circulars demanding more fees.

“Don’t go beyond the powers given to you,” he told the school heads.

Machogu tasked regional and county directors of education with the responsibility of ensuring the directive is implemented.

“Your main responsibility as county and regional directors of education is to ensure that no principal levies any additional fee,” he added.

Machogu also said no secondary school should force parents to make purchases of uniforms from one specific outlet as students are admitted to Form 1.

The CS said the ministry is committed to ensuring parents and guardians with learners joining Form 1 are not burdened with unnecessary requirements that have extra financial implications.

“Parents and guardians will have the liberty to source school uniforms from any distributor of their choice so long as the outfits comply with the specifications of respective schools,” Machogu said.

“Schools have been asked to provide the specifications of their uniform, which include design, quantity required, and colour or shade.”

Machogu said the move would empower parents to make choices that suit their budgets.

“We also know what has been happening with these school uniforms where people have been making business out of it. Let the parents know the uniform required for their children as they join Form 1,” he said.

The CS said it is not the responsibility of the school principal to buy uniforms, keep them in the school and when the parents bring  students, they are told “this is the uniform and then this is the amount of money you are supposed to pay”.

“The principal’s responsibility is not to transact business. It is not upon him to make some arrangement that Machogu has a shop somewhere so he is directing parents to go to Machogu’s shop. We want parents to have their freedom,” he said.

The CS said he fears there is an element of collusion between some school heads and uniform suppliers who have turned themselves into cartels overcharging and harassing parents during Form 1 admissions.

He said this has locked out learners from poor backgrounds from accessing quality uniforms.

“Education should be accessible to all even those from low-income backgrounds,” Machogu said.

The CS announced that 22,081 boys and 20,876 girls who sat this year’s KCPE exam were placed in national schools. Another 2,225 learners placed in special needs schools, 274,746 in extra county schools, 288,201 in county schools and 792,230 in subcounty institutions.

Some 717,358 boys and 682,971 girls sat this year’s KCPE exam as curtains closed on the 8-4-4 education system in primary schools.

In the placement, all candidates who scored 400 marks and above were placed in either national or extra county schools.

Learners with special needs were placed either in regular or special needs schools based on their disability categories, merit and choice, the CS said.

Kabianga High School topped the list of most sought-after school, with 186,357 learners selecting it against the available capacity of 672.

Nanyuki High School with 480 spaces was picked by 158,741 learners while Pangani Girls was the third with 144,542 applying against 384 chances.

The fourth most selected school was Kapsabet Boys with 143,723 against 432 spaces. Alliance Girls High School was fifth after 135,033 learners selected it against 384 available slots.

Maseno School was number six with 123,777 learners selecting it, Nakuru High School was seventh with 115,513.

Butere Girls High School was the eighth-most desired school by 114,635 learners.

Mangu High School was ninth having been selected by 112,938 learners.  Alliance High School was number 10 with 110,839 learners picking it.

With the 8-4-4 in its sunset days and CBC system getting entrenched, the CS said the government was ramping up infrastructure to accommodate Junior Secondary learners. He said the aim is to ensure they are ready by 2025.

He said Sh3.9 billion has been earmarked for the construction of classrooms for Junior School this financial year.

A further Sh9 billion will be provided by the World Bank, to support the construction of 9,000 classrooms, he said.

“This, together with support from the CDF, [the state] will ensure that we will be ready with the required 15,021 classrooms for Grade 9 learners by 2025,” Machogu said.

The government is facing a whopping Sh22 billion deficit to deliver free education to all learners in secondary schools, Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu confessed yesterday. Machogu warned that the situation could get worse as the number of learners in secondary schools alone increases by over 240,000 next year. In a meeting with members of the National Assembly Committee on Education, Machogu said the current secondary school population is 3.9 million learners against an available budget of Sh65 billion this financial year.

He said that this amount is below the approved Sh22,240 per learner, leaving a funding deficit of Sh22 billion. “Next year, we project that the enrollment will be 4.2 million learners. If the funding remains as it is, the capitation will reduce to Sh15,476 per learner,” said the CS.

Machogu, who was accompanied by his Principal Secretary, Dr Belio Kipsang, made the remarks when he appeared before the MPs to respond to questions on capitation and other issues under his docket. He added: “We must be able to address how we deal with the Sh22 billion that is underfunded. So until we are able to adequately deal with the question of underfunding so that we can take the capitation to 100 per cent of what is required then the challenge with capitation will persist.” Belio said that discussions on funding, without dealing with the existing gap will continue to persist and that the problem of underfunding can only be solved by Parliament.

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“Maybe progressively, we should be reducing the funding gaps so that within a certain period of time, we will have been able to close the gap that is there… but that is where the problem is,” he explained.

The CS said that over the last five years, the funds provided to the Ministry have fallen short of the approved rate leading to underfunding of the schools.

“The Ministry is compelled to divide the available amount with the number of learners, which has been increasing every year.

This results in capitations that are lower than the approved rate,” the CS explained. For instance, in the 2022/2023 financial year, the approved budget was Sh64 billion at a rate of Sh22,244 against a requirement of Sh82 billion for 3.69 million learners, the CS revealed. This was a Sh17.6 billion deficit resulting in 794,231 learners not being funded. Similarly, Machogu said the Ministry retains an amount of capitation per learner for purposes of centralized services, which include textbooks, centralized management of co-curricular activities and EduAfya medical cover.

For Free Primary Education (FPE), the CS said that Sh3.6 billion was retained by the Ministry in the 2022/23 Financial Year, Sh10.8 billion under Free Secondary School Education (FDSE) and Sh3.3 billion under the Junior School. Committee Chairman, Julius Melly however, led other MPS in putting the CS and PS to task to explain why the Ministry issues circulars indicating that schools receive Sh22,244 capitation yet they receive less.

“Why don’t you tell the schools that you are giving them the Sh16,000 so that everyone knows, including the parents that it is not Sh22,244?” posed Melly.

Similarly, the MPs sought to know why the ministry still retains funds for extracurricular activities, given that the prescribed rate is only Sh70 per learner yet lawmakers were being saddled with requests from schools for support in such activities. And for the number of students, Melly asked whether the ministry uses head count or from the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS).

Belio repsonded: “On the number of students enrolled in our schools and in NEMIS, we have both figures. We have the number of children in our schools but do not have birth certificates and we have the number of children who are fully registered meaning they have the certificates.” The PS said that 3.6 million children are fully registered and around 380,000 others who do not have birth certificates but the Ministry has their details, which they have subsequently shared with Interior counterparts so that they can help in processing. He said that the Ministry funds Kenyan students and can only confirm through some of these documentations as certificates noting that the projected biometric system will address these problem.

“The use of birth certificates is designed to avoid the risk of fictitious learners, which may lead to over capitation in school,” Machogu further explained. The CS said the key challenge on NEMIS is low capacity among school principals on the utilization of the platform and during disbursement of FDSE, most principals delegate the function to update information on the portal to individuals and do not verify the data entered on their behalf. But the MPS insisted that failure to release all funds is causing serious strains on schools, which are subsequently forced to seek assistance from parents by asking for some levy for the institutions to keep running.

“Overtime there has been underfunding in certain areas and what that means is that we start the year at 68 per cent. I would want to confirm that when we issue our circulars to schools on amounts of funds disbursed, we give the actual figures not the anticipated figures,” Kipsang explained. On distribution of what is retained, the PS said the teaching and learning materials takes part of the money, including support of STEM at Sh200 per learner, remittance for textbooks at Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), Sh1,350 for EduAfya and some from co-curricular, which is also underfunded.

MPs have expressed dissatisfaction on the measures taken by the government to ensure liberalisation in the production of school uniforms.

In a meeting with National Assembly and Education CS Ezekiel Machogu, members of the National Assembly Implementation Committee faulted the ministry for doing little to eliminate a situation where parents are compelled to buy uniforms from specific suppliers.

The session chaired by Kajiado Central MP Memusi Kanchory said it is not enough for the ministry to continue issuing circulars on the issue they claim has offered avenue to fleece parents.

Kanchory said it is time the ministry makes it a policy to address the matter as opposed to issuing circulars.

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The Kajiado Central lawmaker was responding to a statement by Machogu that the ministry has issued circular to all school principals, cautioning against compelling parents to go to specific suppliers for the uniforms.

“A circular is not a policy, a circular is a communication of some information from the minister. You can set out a policy on standardisation and production of school uniforms in the country,” Kanchory said.

The CS was appearing before the committee chaired by Budalangi MP Raphael Wanjala to appraise the committee on the action taken regarding Parliament’s resolution on standardisation and production of school uniforms.

“We have taken up the issue of school uniforms and issued a circular.  We have put in clear terms as a ministry that parents must have a leeway and we must liberalise this… It will be up to the parent to source it from wherever as long as it meets the requirements of the schools,” the CS explained.

“I know there are people who contravene the circulars and directives issued, but the ministry is clear on the uniform purchase. We have taken some action in areas where people have violated these instructions and the Subcounty Directors of Education are implementing these directives, they have clear instructions.”

Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba who moved the motion also backed the formulation of a policy.

According to Wamuchomba, circulars are easy to ignore as opposed to a policy which is binding.

“My concern is the way the schools are playing around with the issue of uniform and creating a curtailed supply so that the demand can be higher and directed to one specific person. The issue of standardisation is coming in so that we do not struggle to know the right fabric…we have to standardise for us to be able to liberalise,” she said.

She added that many children from humble families will be forced to miss school because of uniform issues.

On standardisation, Machogu said it is a tall order owing to the various dynamics like weather and cost that would be incurred.

“School uniform has become some kind of tradition. Again, the climatic and weather conditions of this country vary from one place to another. If for example you go to a place like Timboroa where the temperatures can becomes so low and people required sweaters, the same may not be required in other areas like say Turkana,” he said.

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has defended reforms proposed by the Presidential working party terming them as necessary.

The reforms have sparked debate and concerns from various stakeholders, including Members of Parliament and teachers.

During the World Teachers Day celebrations, on Thursday, plans to trim the powers of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) took center stage as President William Ruto’s proposals on education reforms came under sharp focus.

Some stakeholders even called for a reconsideration of some of the aspects of the reforms report.

Benta Opande, the Chief Executive Officer of  Kenya Women Teachers Association (Kewota) termed TSC a great milestone that was brought to life through struggle.

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“We should not forget that it was through a strike and arrest of some members of the Kenya National Union of Teachers that we got TSC thus we want to make it clear that we support the commission and cannot afford to downsize its powers,” Opande said on Thursday.

Kewota challenged the proposals noting they risk eroding the gains achieved in the teaching profession since the birth of the employer TSC.

She said TSC has enabled gender parity in employment that has seen the number of men and women in the country break even.

Opande spoke during the 29th celebration of the World Teachers Day at the Kenya School of Government on Thursday.

Similar sentiments were echoed by the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers.

Secretary General James Torome, said trimming of TSC powers will see the union weakened adversely.

He credited the commission for improved fairness in promotions of teacher.

“We don’t want to go back to the days when promotions were done in the District Education Officers office, because it was chaotic. Despite the TSC promotions being little, they are fair,” Torome said.

But even as stakeholders spoke, Machogu stood firm in his support for the reforms.

At a separate media briefing in his office, Machogu assured that the implementation process was ongoing.

He said that necessary amendments to the law would be made to align with the recommendations before full adoption.

The details are contained in Machogu’s response to MPs who had demanded to know why reforms were being implemented without their approval.

The CS revealed that an implementation committee has already been established to oversee the process and prepare draft legislation for submission to Parliament.

The legislators in a letter dated October 2, challenged the Ministry of Education’s decision to review grades for pre-service teachers, setting a mean Grade of C(Plain) as the entry mark.

The MPs argued this iscontrary to the mandate of the Teachers Service Commission.

The proposal effectively set a mean Grade of C(Plain) as the entry mark to the institutions and eliminated previous subject requirements of Grade C(Plain) in English and Kiswahili.

However, in his response, Machogu argues that the business of setting entry requirements to Teaching colleges is not of TSC but the ministry.

He explains that the earlier requirement had deprived the teaching colleges as many students were not able to meet the entry mark.

“The changes in entry requirements the colleges have witnessed increased trainees numbers from previous admission of 3000 to 18000 this year,” Machogu said in his response.

Further recommendations to trim TSC powers came under sharp scrutiny on Thursday during the celebration of the World Teachers’ Day.

Another contentious issue, put on the weighing scale by MPs was the establishment of a comprehensive school system that combines nursery, primary, and junior schools.

MPs challenged its constitutionality, but Machogu explained that necessary legal amendments would be drafted before implementation to address constitutional concerns.

“The Constitutional imperatives will be addressed as part of the implementation process,” the response by the CS reads.

Machogu also defended the decision to host junior schools in existing primary schools, citing public support and increased resources allocated to support this transition.

Furthermore, Machogu highlighted that changes to reduce the number of subjects taught in schools were in response to concerns about curriculum overload.

He stated that the rationalization of learning areas was ongoing and would be completed by December 31, 2023, for implementation in the new academic year starting in January 2024.

Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) also challenged the plan to reduce subjects in Junior School.

KESSHA chairman Kahi Indimuli said the proposed reduction in subject did not represent the aspirations of CBC as initially envisaged.

Similar sentiments have been echoed by the Kenya International Schools Association.

“At International schools the Junior school level, we have 22 learning areas. It is broad based,” Jane Mwangi, the chairperson of the International schools association said.

But Machogu justified the decision noting the same has been done in the previous curriculum when circumstances have warranted it.

For example, he notes, in 1989, the KCSE included 10 subjects, but was later reviewed in 1992 and reviewed to a minimum of seven subjects and a maximum of 9.

For grading, candidates had to take all the three (3) compulsory subjects, at least two (2) sciences, one (1) humanity and at least one Practical or Technical subjects.

Other changes justified by the CS include changes in the grading of KCSE examinations.

The presidential team recommended that the computation of KCSE mean score be based on two compulsory subjects of Mathematics and one language (English/Kiswahili/Kenya Sign), and five other best performing subjects.

Machogu argues that such changes on grading have been effected before.

He indicates that under the 8-4-4, the grading system was reviewed in 1992 to reduce the number of subjects used for grading learners from 10 to seven.

The changes in university funding, he says, were necessitated by inadequacy of the previous funding model that led to underfunding of public universities and TVETs, penalties and interests on Pay as You Earn (PAYE), statutory deductions arrears and underfunding of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions.

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has halted the implementation of the presidential working group pending Parliament approval.

In a statement to Parliament, Machogu said the rollout will now await approval from Parliament.

Machigu’s statement was read by National Assembly Majority Whip Silvanus Osoro.

“The implementation of the proposed reforms will not take effect until the legislation process through to this House will be complete,” Osoro said.

Last week MPs accused the ministry of usurping the Parliament’s powers by implementing the Prof. Raphael Manavu-led Presidential task force without getting approval from the House.

According to MPs, Parliament must ratify the proposals as either regulations or substantial law before implementation.

Rising on a point of order, Emuhaya MP Omboko Milemba brought the Speaker’s attention to a number of the recommendations that he argued breached a number of legislations as well as the constitutional provisions.

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He urged Speaker Moses Wetang’ula to make a ruling on the ongoing implementation even before Parliament formally ratifies the proposals.

“We want your direction so that people do not change the law or the Constitution through the backdoor,” Omboko charged.

Among the recommendations that were being rolled out is the new grading system, the new funding model as well as the rationalisation of new learning areas.

The government is also in the process of domiciling Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) from secondary schools to primary schools as was recommended by the Munavu-led task force.

A number of lawmakers supported Omboko, demanding that the Speaker gives direction on the matter.

Ainabkoi MP William Chepkonga said the recommendations and the move to implement the same before the House gives a stamp of approval amounts to taking over the law-making function of Parliament.

“There is no one in this country that can make law however high or mighty they think they are,” Chepkonga said.

“We don’t expect any other person who has not been elected to make law,that is contravention of the Constitution. This is a matter that you should issue a statement from your chair, the implementations should stop.”

Rarieda MP Otiende Omollo berated the Education ministry for overstepping its mandate, saying such proposals can only be implemented after Parliament or the courts ascertain their legality.

“I am aware that not only is it a policy document that has not been crystallised into law, but they have purported to appoint an implementation committee which is already implementing it, it’s not even considered if Parliament will accept it into law or not,” he said.

Majority leader Kimani Ichung’wah undertook to escalate the matter to Education CS Ezekiel Machogu to have him stop implementation of recommendations that requires concurrence with Parliament.

“Nobody including Cabinet secretaries have the power to make the law, not even a presidential working group. The best they can do is to make recommendations that if they are adopted by this House they can be implemented,” the Kikuyu MP said.

The same position was taken by Wetang’ula, who said only Parliament has the mandate to make laws in the country.

“Nobody and I repeat nobody including Cabinet secretaries can purport to make law or do things that can be interpreted that they have made law, because they have no capacity to make law,” he said.

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has announced a new grading system for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).

In the new grading system which will be implemented in the 2023 KCSE exams, students will be graded based on two mandatory subjects – Mathematics and one language (English, Kiswahili, or Kenyan Sign Language).

In addition to the two mandatory subjects – the Kenya National Examinations Council will consider any other five best-performed subjects.

“It is expected that the new reform measure will increase the number of students qualifying for universities, Diploma and TVET training at Certificate and Artisan levels,” Machogu stated.

Previously there were five mandatory subjects across three cluster groups – Mathematics, English, Kiswahili, two sciences and one humanity.

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Machogu also warned officials involved in the 2023 national exams that no one would be spared if found engaging in exam malpractices.

“My ministry will ensure that appropriate action will be taken against officers who contravene the rules and regulations put in place. The Government will not spare any person found to be abetting cheating in examinations,” Machogu said.

The government will administer three national exams this year including the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) for Grade 6 learners, the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE), and the KCSE.

“All those who will be engaged in the management of this year’s examinations and assessments must uphold integrity while executing their roles and remain vigilant to deter any form of malpractice,” he added,