Secondary school teachers now blame the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms for the ‘mess’ in Grade 7.

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers Secretary General Akello Misori faulted the 49-member team for what they term as a decision based on public opinion.

Misori said learners in Grade 7 have not been learning, two months into the school term.

“The Working Party should be disbanded because they have misled more than 1.2 million students,” Misori said.

The union SG said the team relied on public opinion to give the second interim report that directed Grade 7 to be domiciled in primary schools.

The team came under fire warning of impending doom in the education sector.

“Notwithstanding their eminence in the society the working party has contributed more confusion than solutions in the JSS transition,” he said.

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Kuppet chairman Omboka Milemba also said it’s not too late for the government to rescind on domiciling Grade 7.

Milemba explained that for instance in his Emuhaya Constituency learners are teaching fellow learners.

“No learning is taking place but our education officials are afraid of reporting because of fear of victimisation,” Misori said.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers is now calling for the retention of Grade 7 learners in their respective primary schools.

While making their presentation in Nairobi, Knut maintained that the learners need to retain their initial primary schools.

KNUT Nairobi branch executive secretary Macharia Mugwe said primary schools are more spacious compared to secondary schools.

Mugwe was speaking during the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform’s visit to the University of Nairobi to collect public views.

“The learners transiting to junior secondary are still young and requiring guidance from their teachers and parents,” Mugwe said.

According to the teachers present in the forum, many primary school teachers are graduates with different qualifications, which will be useful in junior secondary that is Grades 7,8 and 9.

“There is better space and better infrastructure in primary schools to accommodate grades 7, 8, and 9 effectively,” he said.

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On the age barrier, Mugwe said the learners range between 11-13 years and should be protected from older secondary learners.

The teacher also argued that they are likely to skip or reschedule some cultural practices if they are taken to secondary school.

“It is at this age that some communities circumcise and initiate the young learners to the next level of growth. This has been done comfortably at the primary level,” he said.

Still, on teachers’ training, Mugwe added that most primary school teachers have been trained to teach subjects taught in JSS.

At this level, learners study 12 core subjects and seven optional subjects.

“All the teachers in primary have been trained to teach everything in primary for instance art and craft, music, home science among other areas,” he said.

From the seven subjects, they have to pick a minimum of one and a maximum of two.

The optional subjects are visual arts, performing arts, home science, computer science, foreign languages, Kenyan sign language, and indigenous languages.

The core subjects are English, Kiswahili, mathematics, integrated science, health education, pre-technical and career education, and social studies.

Others are religious education, business studies, agriculture, life skills and sports, and physical education.

Former Kenya National Union Of Teachers (KNUT) secretary general Wilson Sossion is now rooting for the reduction of the powers currently enjoyed by the teachers service commission, TSC.

According to the former unionist, the teachers employer should only employ teachers.

“TSC should be confined to employing and managing teachers – to formulate policies to achieve its mandate; recruit and employ registered teachers; assign teachers employed by the commission; promote and transfer teachers; terminate the employment of teachers; review the demand for and the supply of teachers and manage the payroll of teachers,” reads a post submitted by Sossion.

Sossion has maintained in his post that article 237 which established TSC, neither gives it powers to regulate teachers nor to pertake quality assurance and standards.

Further, Sossion argues that Training and capacity building which include Teacher Professional Development is a function of the Ministry of Education.

“The independent status of TSC which the current office has abused on numerous occasions is founded on Chapter 15 of the Constitution. However, it should be noted that the constitutional status of TSC was a political decision rather than a professional resolution and commitment,” says Sossion.

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Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) proposed that TSC be made independent of the Ministry of Education for the commission to mobilise teachers to vote YES in referendum of the Constitution in 2010. The architects of the Constitution had not envisioned the current legal status of TSC in their original thinking.

The leadership of TSC has misconstrued its constitutional status to mean that it has nothing to do with the Ministry of Education or any organisation which has led to perennial clashes with ministry officials, leaderships of trade unions, parliamentary committee on education, and even disobeying the courts.

The commission has interpreted its mandate so generously and has encroached on the constitutional and legal mandate of the Ministry of Education and labour unions. Section II of TSC Act and various sections of the TSC Code of Regulations for Teachers encroached on the powers and functions of the CS for Education.

TSC has virtually taken over the management of public primary and secondary schools – it is more tragic that TSC has also taken over the quality assurance and standards functions in these institutions. This is regrettable because as the employer, it cannot exercise the quality assurance and standards in schools.

TSC single-handedly reviewed the Recognition Agreements signed with teacher unions and has now taken over the running of trade movements which is in violation of Labour Relations Act and Bill of Rights.