The circular is out; from none other than the key mandarin in Ministry of Education, Jogoo House ‘B’. Schools are set to open promptly on Monday, 6 January. There are no provisos; no let-ups. It is an executive order of sorts.
Learning materials are in place, we hear. Teachers have been aptly updated. Field officers have been duly instructed — to execute ministerial policy and ensure complete compliance. No turning to the left or right of these executive instructions.
Our children will head to their schools in obedience, and learning will presumably start – promptly.
But some key issues still beg for answers.
Paramount among them is the issue of domiciling of the Grade 9 learners. Do they, or do they not, remain in their primary schools?
This is practically a million-dollar question.
The fundamental issue here is, are the primary schools ready to host these learners? Are the learning resources in place? Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) has assured us that the books are available. But that is just one aspect of the resources issue.
TEACHERS
Curriculum implementation is far much more than books and charts. A lot more goes into it; key amongst these being human resources: the teachers.
Do we have enough of those to give our learners a meaningful education? There is the perennial issue of staff shortage. On the political front, it is declared that there are more than enough teachers to implement this curriculum. But as it is normally averred, put politics in anything, and it suddenly goes bad; even if it is honey, or a funeral.
It is one thing to observe passionately that the country has employed enough teachers. But there are indicators which can be used to substantiate the contrary to this supposition.
Last year, it was observed that there was an acute scarcity of teachers for JSS. For a school with one each of grade seven and eight, it was not uncommon to get two teachers employed specifically for JSS. Such teachers could be specialists in English/Literature, and Maths/Business Education. Yet they were expected to handle all the subjects in JSS. It was not only pathetic, but impractical. Indeed, it bordered on the ridiculous.
Who, mewonders, was expected to teach the other subjects? Was it to just expect that somehow, the school authorities would find a way of ensuring that the subjects were covered? But how? Should we expect these poor men and women to turn miracle workers, and do the impossible? Or even expect the poor parents to go out of their way and hire JSS teachers? Suppose that sort of solution is sort, can it be regarded as a panacea for the problem at hand? Does it reflect on official government policy vis-à-vis the idea of staffing in JSS?
Let Dr Belio Kipsang answer.
SWIMMING POOLS
I have put here that heading to cater for all the other similar resources which we want to pretend are either in place, or they don’t matter being not in place.
Last year, a picture did the rounds extensively on the now infamous SM platforms. This was the video of students learning swimming on the granite, pebbly ground of their school playing field. Whoever designed this lesson probably intended it to be a masterpiece of the innovation that was featuristic of the CBC syllabus. Utilise what resource is available!
Good, patriotic spirit, methinks; but does it make sense? Swimming on granite pebbles in lieu of water? And they were doing it in full school uniform! Some ingenuity; I don’t think!
Look: lets have some form of policy on such facilities. There is a limit to improvisation. Why not identify a resource, and stagger learning such that all learners in, let’s say, a sub-county, or county, or even region, can get an opportunity to have access to a facility? Think about the difference of having one swimming pool in a county. This would be a budget for 47 state-of-the-art swimming pools. That can’t cost the country an arm and a leg; it is affordable, and it would be money well spent.
Apart from swimming pools, other resources can be identified which can be spread in regions and counties. Libraries, for example. Then we have cultural centres, driving schools, road safety demonstration sites, and even foods and nutrition demonstration centres.
RUGBY FIELDS AND GYMS
Other crucial facilities could be those for specialised sports disciplines.
We fare badly in these sports, even on the international arena, due to the fact that we do not bother to expose our learners to the facilities where these sports are practised. How many JSS have, or are exposed to, rugby pitches, or even balls? How many can boast of even having seen a rugby ball? Weight lifting? Boxing? Fencing? Even a sport as common as basketball is strange to many JSS learners. Yet these sports are very popular on the international scene; we watch them during the Olympics and are greatly fascinated by them. At home, we make no effort to develop them. Are we not, as a country, doing ourselves, and our children, a great disservice?
Someone can argue that for all I have pointed out, we need to hold our breath till senior secondary, when all those with a liking for whatever can join an appropriate institution. That is aberrated logic. Let it be emphasized here that we can’t say those who excel in sciences, and who go to STEM schools, must cease to play football. They will still play; not only football, but all the other games which they enjoy playing.
What happens in other countries is that we have academies specialising in these games. Some are run by individuals, while others are run by sports clubs. I believe that is the way to go.
All in all, let’s rationalise all decisions we make. Let us ask ourselves the fundamental question: is this going to have a positive bearing on the future of our children? Long after we are gone, shall they look back, and revere our memory for the decisions we made at crucial times, with a view to shaping their future? Or will they wonder what manner of decision makers and opinion shapers we were, to come up with what history ascribes to us?
I rest my case.
By Charles O. Okoth
You can also follow our social media pages on Twitter: Education News KE and Facebook: Education News Newspaper for timely updates.
>>> Click here to stay up-to-date with trending regional stories
>>> Click here to read more informed opinions on the country’s education landscape
>>> Click here to stay ahead with the latest national news.
