School heads in Mombasa for annual conference

Head teachers during a past conference at the Sheikh Zayed Children Centre in Mombasa. The ninth annual conference will be held at the same venue starting Saturday August 31, 2013. Best performing teachers and best child friendly schools will be announced. PHOTO/FILE  NATION

In Summary

• The theme of the conference is “Translating the Basic Education Act 2013 into a Child Friendly Education System for All: An Opportune Time to Mainstream Children’s Government in Kenyan Primary Schools."
• The government decided to allow pupils to elect their own leaders, instead of the previous tradition where teachers would appoint prefects.
• Teachers have made Mombasa their destination of choice in this annual ritual where best performing teachers are awarded and encouraged to do more.

By AGGREY MUTAMBO
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More than 12, 000 public school heads converge in Mombasa this Saturday for their annual conference.

This comes amid claims that the controversial holiday tuition is still going on despite a government ban.

A tentative programme released Thursday shows that teachers would meet at the Sheikh Zayed Children Centre in Mombasa for eight days to discuss efforts to make schools more child-friendly.

It will be the ninth such meeting and President Uhuru Kenyatta who has been invited to the conference is expected to speak to the teachers on Day 2 of discussions on Tuesday next week.

The theme of the conference is “Translating the Basic Education Act 2013 into a Child Friendly Education System for All: An Opportune Time to Mainstream Children’s Government in Kenyan Primary Schools."

Organisers say they chose the topic because schools are no longer just chambers for passing exam.

“It is no longer about passing exams, it is now time to figure out how to make children to own everything they do in school, whether in classrooms or outside,” Mr Joseph Karuga, the Kenya Primary School Heads Association Chairman told Nation.co.ke.

FIVE PILLARS

“If you go back to the days you were in school, children were rarely given any freedom. Probably that is why they know so little outside what is in books,” he added.

Child Friendly Schools is a brain-child of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

It aims at making school environments “inclusive, healthy and protective for all children.”

Unicef identifies five pillars which would make schools friendly to children.

Such schools have to be safe for children both physically and emotionally with teachers including all children in learning and encouraging slow learners.

Schools should also include families and the community in their programmes and that teachers and other staff support learning for children.

The programme was gradually adopted in Kenya following the countrywide destructive pupils’ rampages of 2007.

LIBERATING CHILDREN

Then, the government decided to allow pupils to elect their own leaders, instead of the previous tradition where teachers would appoint prefects.

Mr Karuga says this has helped to make children feel part of the school system, rather than the previous programme where they felt that prefects had been imposed on them.

“It is all about liberating children, to allow them to grow holistically within the school programme. We will discuss other ways of making our children understand the concept of sustainable development,” he said.

Teachers have made Mombasa their destination of choice in this annual ritual where best performing teachers are awarded and encouraged to do more.

In this year’s conference, there is a provision for a representative of the ‘children’s government’ to speak, and probably air some of the demands from the pupils.

The best child friendly schools will be announced.