Teachers Struggle with Congestion Caused by 100% Transition as TSC Told to Replace Retired Teachers
Public secondary schools are struggling with infrastructure crisis caused by high enrolment under the government’s 100 per cent transition policy.
It is a balancing act for principals who have to improvise to accommodate the high number of Form Ones. A single stream takes up to 80 learners in some schools. Kisii School senior teacherTom Okong’o said the school has so far admitted 630 students to Form One and have had to use the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) classrooms to accommodate them.
He said the school is supposed to admit at most 500 students, adding that they will be forced to admit a lower number next year if more classrooms are not constructed.
“We have several streams, some with 70 students each. Some parents are still seeking vacancies for their children but the school does not have enough classes to accommodate them,” Okong’o said.
Emenwa Mixed Day Secondary school principal Ibrahim Gekonde said some parents were taking advantage of Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha’s directive that schools should not send away students who have not cleared fees.
“Schools need funds to run. I urge the government to increase capitation and send it on time to support school operations,” Gekonde said.
Bobasi MP Innocent Obiri said plans were underway to build more classrooms and dormitories to accommodate the increasing number of learners.
“leaders are aware of the increasing number of children joining secondary school is higher. That is why we have given priority to bursaries and infrastructure in schools,” Obiri said in Kisii yesterday.
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In Mombasa, schools are also grappling with infrastructure challenges as they strive to cope with 100 per cent transition policy.
In Mvita sub-county, Mvita Boys, Allidina Visram and Alfarsy Secondary schools are already overstretched yet there are still more students seeking admission.
At Allidina Visram’s, Principal Juma Mshimu said the school has over 300 new learners which is more than what the school can handle.
“We do not have enough space to accommodate more. We have over 300 students in six streams. This tells you the teacher-student ratio is compromised,” said Mshimu.
Mshimu said the government should look for ways to improve infrastructure in schools to enable them offer quality education. Mshimu said many parents whose children had offered places in other schools, had opted for Allidina Visram which is already struggling with limited
infrastructure.
“AllidinaVisram is on demand because it is located in the city centre and has a good record of performance,” said Mshimu.
At the Star of the Sea Girls School in Mombasa, the principal, Agnes Tumbo, said out of a list of about 300 learners in this year’s intake, only 185 had reported so far.
“Many are requesting for extension because of fee challenges,” said Tumbo.
Secondary schools in Kisumu are also struggling with accommodation challenges.
A majority of the institutions have admitted more students than they can accommodate.
At Kisumu Boys High school, an increase of 207 students has been recorded in the
latest admission. This has seen student population rise
from 2,087 at the end of last term to 2,294.
Consequently, the administration has created additional facilities including an extra classroom to accommodate 70 students and a temporary dormitory that will house 200 students.
Acting principal Erick Duya said the school is transiting from seven to ten streams this academic year.
Duya said some 628 new students had reported by Friday. “Our facilities are stretched, but the administration is proactive in trying to improvise ways to manage the situation,” he said.
He said the school benefited from the construction of two CBC classrooms.
Duya said that Kisumu Boys’ also faces the challenge of assisting students from a poor background.
“We have been able to admit six students who reported without necessities. The school provided them with uniform and other requirements,” he said.
Education officials in the county led by Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) executive secretary Zablon Awange called on the Ministry of Education to address challenges brought about by the 100 per cent transition policy
to ensure effective learning.
Awange said many secondary schools were faced with congestion and inadequate teaching personnel.He asked the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to hire more teachers.
“We demand that TSC hastens the process of replacing teachers who have exited service through natural attrition, retired or joined greener pastures,” he said.
The union leader stressed that a lot needs to be done to fix congestion in public schools.
“The government must be prompt in disbursing schools development (maintenance and infrastructure) funds to assist in expansion of the structures to deal with the glaring admission challenges,”Awange said.
Similarly, he was concerned that a number of students who sat 2021 KCPE in the county are likely to miss out the chance to join schools of their choice because of lack of fees.
He said many of them had applied for scholarships but were not successful.
“We are afraid that if they do not report on time their places may be given out to
the highest bidders,” Awange said.
He said there was discrimination in the manner in which scholarships and bursaries were awarded, which resulted in many poor children missing out.
“It is not necessarily that a student must be an orphan to benefit from scholarships.
We ask charitable organization to consider cases of students whose parents live in extreme poverty,” he added.
