A university lecturer has asked the Government to audit all primary schools to ascertain why education standards are deteriorating.
James Kanya, who is also the deputy vice chair of the chairpersons of County Education Boards (CEBs) caucus, said the resources spent on public primary schools must yield results.
“Schools get annual capitation per child, books and they also have the best qualified teachers yet private primary schools still do better,” Dr Kanya said.
Figures from the Ministry indicate that the Government remits some Sh14 billion annually to public primary schools.
Speaking over the weekend, Kanya lauded the recently released form one-selection guidelines saying the era of discrimination in selections was long gone.
Regulatory frameworks
“With the criteria you can be sure that all children will be given equal chance to join national schools,” he said.
The revised form one-selection guidelines provide that the five top Standard Eight candidates from each sub-county— whether in public or private schools — will be automatically selected to national schools next year.
Kanya appealed to the Government to partner with private schools and apply regulatory frameworks similar to those in public schools.
Kanya, who was presiding over graduation ceremony of Jadamy Elite Academy in Ruai, said the Government has overlooked and failed to recognise the important roles private schools play.
He said registration of private schools should be made easy and the renewal fee should be scrapped.
“This will assist enactment of the Basic Education Act that talks of free and compulsory education for all children,” he said.
