Kuppet:Ban on holiday tuition will affect poor learners

By Job Weru

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) has called on Education Minister Mr Mutula Kilonzo to consult widely over the ban on holiday tuition.

The officials said some schools were rushing to complete the syllabus ahead of the national examinations.

Kuppet officials from 10 counties in Mt Kenya and Central Rift regions lamented that the ban imposed by the minister two weeks ago was punitive to candidates preparing to sit for KCPE and KCSE examinations.

Mr Njogu Mbui, the union’s Mt Kenya region secretary observed that education in Kenya had reached competitive levels, while school terms have been reduced to 38 weeks.

“This means that students and pupils need teachers often, since they are not able to complete the syllabus within the stipulated period,” said Mbui.

Addressing journalists shortly after holding a consultative meeting at Kirimara Springs Hotel in Nanyuki, the officials warned that the ban on holiday tuition was likely to jeorpadise their performance on national examinations.

“Let us not forget the ugly incidents that gripped teachers in underperforming schools who were attacked or even ejected from their schools by angry parents,” he said.

“The minister should understand that the holiday tuition is meant to bridge gaps left in course of the term especially in the syllabus,” said Mbui, who is also the Kirinyaga County Executive Secretary.

The officials warned that after the Government banned tuition, some parents had contracted teachers to coach their pupils at home. “We should not, therefore, cheat ourselves that we have solved the matter since parents are taking such steps to help their children. This is only a disadvantage to learners from poor backgrounds whose parents are not able to pay teachers,” said Mbui.

The officials at the same time warned that they would go on strike at the beginning of next term if the government fails to honour their demands to harmonise their salaries and allowances.

Mr Muriuki Nyamu, the Nyeri County Executive Secretary noted that Teachers Service Commission  had conceded there are discrepancies in remuneration and the matter was forwarded to the Salaries and Remuneration Committee.

“But so far, nothing seems forthcoming and the only solution is to go on strike,” said Nyamu.

Mbui observed that Kuppet was not going back to the 1997 agreement as demanded by Kenya National Union of Teachers and was instead demanding harmonisation of salaries with those of other civil servants.Meanwhile, some parents now want schools to carry forward tuition levies to next terms fees.

Kenya National Association of Parents Nyanza branch chairman Jackson Omollo Ogweno on Sunday told schools to abide by their pleas.

He said parents had paid thousands of shillings as tuition fees which ought to be refunded because children were forcefully sent home last week following the government’s ban on tuition. Hundreds of students, who had reported to school for the August holiday tuition, were asked to return home, after Education Minister Mutula Kilonzo’s banned tuition.

He claimed tuition placed burden on the parents and also consumed student’s time for social exploration and learning domestic chores.

Mutula demanded that tuition be banned to give them time to rest and spend time with their families.

— Additional reporting by Kepher Otieno