Education crisis looming over county officials, TSC standoff

By MAUREEN ABWAO

NAIROBI, KENYA: Education management in the country is headed for a crisis following turf wars between the county executives for Education and county representatives from Teachers Service Commission.

The wars have degenerated to the grassroots as school heads are now side-lining the county executives on grounds that it is only TSC that has the power to hire and fire them.

CRUCIAL MEETING

County executives for Education yesterday met with representatives from the Ministry of Education at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development in Nairobi to deliberate on how they can work with TSC officials at counties.

The standoff has now escalated to recruitment of Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) teachers by county governments, with the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) insisting that TSC should be involved in the recruitment.

However, the Chairman of Transition Authority Kinuthia Wamwangi has dispelled the notion held by TSC, stating that ECDE teachers’ recruitment has been devolved to the counties.

“I would like these two factions to understand their mandates very well as there are guidelines in the Constitution that outline the respective roles and duties,” said Wamwangi.

“I would like to issue a warning to Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion to keep out of this matter as he is wrong on the view that TSC should be the employer of ECDE teachers,” warned Wamwangi.

Officials from Education Cabinet Secretary’s office called for uniformity in the decisions and policy making in the education sector so as to ensure standards of education in the country are upheld.

“There should be nothing to fight for between the two as they are all working to ensure the achievement of basic compulsory education for all children,” said the Education Secretary Kiragu wa Magochi when he engaged the county executives for education in a consultative forum.

ONE GOVERNMENT

“My appeal to the two is to see themselves as working under one government, performing a function to better the quality of education in the country and I would like to advice that an open-door policy should be implemented in discussing these issues” said Magochi.

 He further noted that it was not too late to amend the Education Act, urging the two groups to hold a meeting and point out changes required and present them to the National Education Board that will forward the issues to the Cabinet Secretary.