Boarding schools don’t use paraffin to kill students’ libido- Secondary School Heads Association boss John Awiti

Must school heads always hold their meetings in Mombasa? Why not Nakuru or Embu?

We would like to rotate it to other regions, but other regions are not suited to handle the large number of members that form this association. We tried Eldoret and Kisumu. We are planning to have delegates attend as opposed to all members. That way, we can rotate to other counties in the country without a problem.

Many high school principals are perceived as rude, arrogant and dictatorial...

That is a matter of attitude, and being part of the society, you can’t rule out a few cases here and there of school heads who are too haughty. In fact, we are having a forum to sensitise members on the benefits of serving with professionalism. Our motto actually is ‘Professionalism Is Our commitment.’

Should school visiting days be banned?

School visiting days were borne out of noble intentions, but some parents put up a show to demonstrate social status, which is terrible in a school set-up. There are families who drive to school in a caravan of vehicles to grill enormous amounts of meat and chicken and throw a big bash for one child.

Problem is, some pupils, mostly orphans, have no one to visit them. After such an ostentatious display, the poor children may require counselling. We, therefore, prefer half-term, when all children go home.

In your view, what is the place and future of secondary day schools in Kenya?

A majority of schools will be day schools as education provision continues to improve in this country. The government caters for tuition fees but not boarding charges, an issue that is locking out needy children from schools they deserve to attend.

We are advising more investment into day institutions so that provision of basic education can be effective. It is time we moved away from the boarding element as it makes education expensive in a developing country, where the masses require all the support to catch up with the rest of the world.

Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) has been opposed to teachers being subjected to performance contracts. What are the issues?

We support performance contracts in total because they bring out the supervision and self-regulatory aspect of our profession perfectly and if well implemented, will lead to improved results. We are not opposed to a document that defines accountability and helps schools to achieve educational goals and objectives.

Teachers are the only professionals who are paid a ‘motivation fee’ for doing their job. Isn’t this corruption?

I am familiar with a school prize-giving day, where we award excellence as a motivation for teachers to work hard. We do not charge anything extra.

How serious is absenteeism and alcohol addiction among high school teachers?

We may have cases of absenteeism, which are isolated as far as we are concerned, but the issue is not as serious as it has been hyped. Out statistics indicate that teacher absenteeism is manageable. Teachers were found to stay away from class mainly because they are the same people tasked with organising co-curricular activities throughout the year.

And these activities are many, stretching available staff who do their best to stand in for their colleagues taking care of other students out of class. As for addiction, we have many members and this is a social ill that has crept into the teaching profession as well, but these cases are isolated.

Why do schools find it so hard to operate within the fee guidelines set by government?

The Cabinet Secretary gave us the guidelines and school principals are supposed to abide by them. However, if a school individually feels it has issues with the recommended fees, they can always take up the matter with the ministry.

Caning is illegal, but it is an open secret that even national schools subject students to corporal punishment...

This is one area where we have been mostly successful. However, there still remains a few isolated cases which I am sure we are ironing out as we continue to improve education in the country.

We are expected to reinforce counselling and guidance as opposed to any type of punishment. Most of the students who default more often than not have been found to be victims of mistreatment, either at home or with their peers. Punishing them only hardens them into ‘criminals.’

Why do teachers field ineligible players in inter-school games? Isn’t this teaching students that corruption pays?

This is one of the issues we must address to improve standards of education. Too much focus on winning and being number one is destroying our children. The same applies to education. Passing exams should not be the alpha and omega of taking our sons and daughters to school. Sports should be viewed as an opportunity for the children to develop talents, teamwork and social skills through interaction with others. Our mandate does not stop with impacting education in the class, but ensuring that we nurture upright members of society.

The school curriculum is designed for four years. Why do schools implement it in three years? What is the impact of this madness on the child?

It is our culture of over emphasising exams that has brought about this unhealthy rush and competition. This is an issue that we are addressing in this conference. We want a system that offers holistic education for learners.

We are seeking new pathways for the development of our learners in a way that is going to make them more competitive, innovative and suited for the job market worldwide.

What key issues does the association want incorporated in the new education system?

We want the proposed curriculum to emphasise more on skills and talents. We also hope that talents are going to be identified earlier and developed keenly.

Is it true that boarding schools put paraffin in students’ food to control libido?

Anyone doing that must be out of his mind as that is quite abnormal. I do not even want to discuss that issue.