School fire tragedy, floods and Gen Z protests disrupted education in 2024

Parents at Hillside Academy Endarasha in September 2024. [File, Standard] The death of 21 minors at the Hillside Academy Endarasha in September 2024 was a tragic event in the basic education calendar in 2024. Floods that delayed reopening of schools by some two weeks was another reminder of the country's unpreparedness to tackle disasters, highlighting unfortunate events that unsettled the education sector. The sector also suffered following Gen-Z protests that also delayed the reopening of schools after the second term midterm break. And in the third term, the schools would once again be disrupted by teachers strike over delayed promotions, poor working conditions and salaries among other grievances, further denting the academic calendar. However, with no more KCPE examinations and new inventions introduced in the administration of KCSE, there were positive highlights in the assessments of basic education learners in 2024. In addition to this, the roll out of 2-6-6-3 education system and transition progressed as the Ministry launched the distribution of Grade 9 books as well as those for rationalized areas for Grades One to Six. Construction of additional classrooms as time ticks towards the Grade Nine transition was another highlight even as questions were raised over the government's preparedness for the transition. What will however leave a mark in the minds and hearts of parents and education sector players is the lives lost to the tragic school fire at the Hillside Academy Endarasha. It was a painful loss of learners in the fateful September 5, 2024 disaster. "I have read the names of these children because they are not just numbers or statistics. We need to remember their names," Education Cabinet Secretary, Julius Ogamba said during the memorial service held on September 26. During the service, the CS said a nationwide audit of public and private boarding would be undertaken to ensure compliance with the schools' safety standards manual, even as he warned that non-compliance would be met with firm action to restore confidence in schools. And several weeks down the line, the Ministry issued a not so popular directive that did not settle down with some of those affected. In a circular dated November 27, the Ministry ordered the immediate closure of boarding sections in 348 primary schools across the country, which failed to meet safety and compliance standards. The directive arose from an extensive assessment conducted in September and October, with Education Principal Secretary Dr Belio Kipsang saying that the schools were found to have grossly violated key safety provisions. "The assessment established that some institutions grossly contravened the provisions of the Safety Standards manual for schools in Kenya 2008). Further they did not adhere to the standards as prescribed in the registration guidelines for basic education institutions (2021). A total of 348 schools of those assessed were consequently not approved to host boarding learners," said Kipsang in the circular. A majority of the schools affected were in Nairobi, Kisii, Kiambu, Kericho, Nandi and Uasin Gishu. But Members of Parliament called on the state to rescind the directive saying it risks inconveniencing teachers and parents, as most schools were not given adequate time to comply. "The Ministry of Education did not go back after three months to confirm compliance by re-inspection of such schools so that they can make a decision whether to close or not," said Majority whip, Silvanus Osoro. The affected schools were subsequently given four more weeks to comply, with some of the deficiencies identified including absence of fire extinguishers and inadequate entry and exit points. The institutions complained that they were being unfairly targeted, claiming that no inspection was conducted prior to the closure order. The year 2024 also saw delayed start of the second term by about two weeks owing to massive flooding in many parts of the country. Initially, schools were to reopen on April 29, 2024 but the flooding reported across the country forced the Ministry of Education to postpone the return of students to school. President William Ruto said this was based on consultations with the Meteorological Department on the weather forecast. This saw the gazettement of May 10, 2024 as a public holiday to remember those who were affected by the floods. Also during the period, the Government announced an ambitious campaign that would see teachers and learners plant 35 million trees every year. With an estimated 17 million learners and 600,000 educators in the country the education fraternity is also expected to produce 300 million seedlings annually, which is part of the 15 billion national tree growing programme. The then Education Cabinet Secretary, Ezekiel Machogu said that they will seek approval of the National Treasury to allocate five per cent of the Education Ministry budget to tree planting. As students reported for the third term in August 2024, Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), were divided on the teachers strike with both issuing respective notices for the industrial action. The strike was to coincide with reopening of schools for the third term and while Knut withdrew its notice just hours to its effect, Kuppet vowed to boycott duty. The teachers were among other issues protesting delayed promotions, working conditions and pay structure among other grievances as contained in the amended Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Knut also demanded the employment of 46,000 Junior Secondary School teachers on permanent and pensionable terms; the recruitment of 20,000 teachers; and promotion of 130,000 teachers who had stagnated in various job grades. In May 2024, Junior Secondary School teachers had also staged nationwide strike demand contract letters. KNUT Secretary-General Collins Oyuu explained that the union called off the planned industrial action after majority of their their demands were addressed. "We evaluated the major issue that had been resolved, specifically the implementation of Phase 2. The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has enacted this phase, and teachers have received their arrears for July and August," said Oyuu. Kuppet, on the other hand, vowed to stay put despite a court order stopping the strike, even as they lashed out at TSC for failing to address their grievances. The strike went on for about two weeks, amid concerns about its impact, as students were at the time preparing for the national examinations. It was also the first time that there was no Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE), as the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) gradually replaces the 8-4-4 system. The first CBC class will join Grade 9 in January. To facilitate transition, Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) rollout a pilot of the Kenya Junior School Education Assessment in September 2024. The pilot will guide the conduct of the exit evaluation in Junior Secondary School. Knec administered the Grade 6, Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA), Kenya Intermediate Level Education Assessment (KILEA) and KCSE. For KCSE, new measures were introduced to maintain the sanctity of the exams which included personalising question papers with names and index details of the student printed on them and exam officials required to surrender their mobile phones at the beginning of each examination session. In October 2024, the Ministry of Education launched the distribution of Grade 9 textbooks as well as those for rationalized areas for Grades One to Six at Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD). Ogamba said the Ministry is procuring about 1 million copies of books and 24,000 copies of teacher's guides for each learning area in Grade 9, in recognition of the fact that curriculum support materials are an essential component in any learning environment. "The Government has taken proactive measures and invested heavily to ensure that the noble objectives of CBC are achieved through seamless implementation," he said. At the same time, Kenya hosted the Second Ministerial Meeting of the School Meals Coalition Taskforce in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP). President Ruto said that all over the world, children spend, or ought to spend, 75 per cent of their time at school and in an ideal situation, should receive at least half of their daily meals there. "Recognising that access to food and nutrition is a significant factor in keeping children in school, Kenya introduced the School Meals Programme as early as 1966, just three years after our independence. Initially, the programme was implemented only in Nairobi. However, the entry of WFP transformed the scale of the initiative, and our partnership enabled us to expand nationally," Ruto said in the meeting held in October. By 2018, the programme was fully integrated as a national initiative, now benefiting 2.6 million learners - a more than tenfold increase from the initial 240,000. He said hunger remains a significant challenge to the well-being of many, particularly in arid regions and to address this, the Government tripled the budgetary allocation for school feeding and set a clear goal to expand the programme's coverage from 2.6 million to 10 million children by 2030. President Ruto sacked Machogu and appointed Ogamba as Education CS, following the Gen Z protests.

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