Homa Bay county secondary schools have been adversely hit by shortage Kiswahili teachers.
Observations made by the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) have revealed that many schools lack Kiswahili teachers.
Some schools have a single Kiswahili teacher handling the subject in all classes.
Speaking during an education ceremony organized by Kochia MCA Michael Nyang’i at Ligisa Secondary School over the weekend, KUPPET Executive Secretary Stephen Yogo said there are some schools where students are forced to study Kiswahili on their own due to shortage of teachers.
He argued that the shortage had culminated in poor performance in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams in the county.
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“The manner in which students score low Kiswahili grades in KCSE is worrying in this county. Our investigations have revealed that the poor performance is caused by shortage of Kiswahili teachers,” said Yogo.
He argued that huge workload in some schools with Kiswahili teachers could make them fail to deliver their services effectively.
“You cannot expect good results in schools where a single teacher suffers the burden of handling Kiswahili in double streams from form one to form four,” he added.
Yogo called on the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to consider curbing shortage of Kiswahili teachers in the county and employ many of them.
He said the shortage of teachers in the county stands at 2, 620 but Kiswahili should be given more priority in the forthcoming teacher recruitment by the TSC.
Nyang’i also decried cases of school dropout in the area.
He promised to establish centers of excellence as a way of improving standards of education in the area.
The MCA argued that difficulties in learning were a factor contributing to school dropout.
“I have secured a number of computers which will be used in establishing centers of excellence in this area. Our aim with development partners is to create enabling environment for learners,” said Nyang’i.
He urged parents to be responsible in monitoring conduct of their children to avoid incidents which can make them drop out of school.
Homa Bay County Director of Education Margaret Muandale told parents to avoid giving their children unnecessary pressure of getting grade As in KCSE.
“Nobody said a child has to go to a university in order to be successful in life. Let our children be hard working and demonstrate good beaviours,” Muandale said.
