Teachers heading primary schools will be promoted from grade C3 and above, and become principals of Junior Schools, domiciled in their institutions, Education Cabinet Secretary, Ezekiel Machogu, has announced.
Primary school heads have been acting as principals for students who have transitioned to grade 7 for the whole of this year.
Machogu also reiterated that the government will not increase school fees, but will ensure the existing remittances to schools are used prudently.
However, the CS said that the Ministry will no longer distribute Capitation Funds to schools quarterly as they have been, instead, the system will change to a ratio of 50:30:20 for the first, second and third terms respectively.
Speaking to over 10,000 Primary School Heads at the Kenya Primary Schools Head Teachers Association (KEPSHA) Annual General Meeting, Machogu challenged the teachers to embrace accountability, foster inclusivity and enhance Teacher Professional Development.
Kenya National Union of Teachers’ Secretary General, Collins Oyuu applauded the government for confirming the Head Teachers as Principals of the Junior Secondary Schools.
He said that this step will motivate the teachers who have strived to further their studies for that opportunity.
Oyuu said that there have been issues with the management of the comprehensive schools, which has been done successfully by head teachers.
“It is worldwide known that any additional duty or assignment for any worker must be compensated and I am glad the CS has addressed this matter,” Oyuu said.
The Secretary-General went on to thank the government for getting rid of delocalization and also sanctioning employment of more teachers.
“We would love to make a follow-up with the education committee, the Presidential Working Party augmented funding and this must be given to schools to attain the goal to make CBC affordable to all and easy to implement,” Oyuu said.
He added that it is also important that the capitation funding is disbursed on time to avoid inconveniences at schools.
Oyuu dismissed rumors that some of the head teachers were being demoted.
“Some of the head teachers of primary schools are actually PhD holders, so whoever thinks that they are not well qualified and is talking about demoting them will be in for a rude shock,” he emphasized.
