Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
A combative Dr Fred Matiang’i yesterday sent a clear signal that
it would not be business as usual under his tenure as the Cabinet
Secretary for Education.
Dr Matiang’i set the tone when
he criticised the Kenya National Examination Chief Executive for
“taking half an hour” delivering his address.
He said
he would not read his speech because he did not want the release of the
KCPE results to be just another ritual during which officials give each
other high fives.
Earlier, the chairman of the KNEC
board, Prof Kabiru Kinyanjui, had invited the CS to visit the council’s
headquarters but when he rose to speak, Dr Matiang’i said he had already
made two impromptu visits and had had candid conversations with some of
the staff there in Prof Kinyanjui’s absence.
As a rule, a board chairman’s position is not a day job.
Dr
Matiang’i also told Prof Kinyanjui that he would hold him accountable
to the promises he had made in his introductory remarks, including a
pledge to ensure that KNEC staff are moved to the new premises under
construction. The chairman had said that the move had been delayed by
lack of funds to complete one of the towers.
When he
rose to welcome the CS, the Principal Secretary for Education, Mr Bellio
Kipsang, said that he would not be making a speech because the CS had
asked him to make his remarks brief to ease anxiety for the candidates
waiting to receive their results.
Dr Matiang’i said the
results were not just meant for the 937,467 candidates who sat the
examination last month but for all players in the education sector, from
policy makers like himself to county directors of education and
teachers.
“These results must mean something,” he said. “They also measure us and our work.”
ABSENTEEISM
He
put teachers’ union on the spot, warning the teacher absenteeism had
become a serious problem that must be tackled immediately. According to
him, in some counties, absenteeism of teachers stood at 70 per cent and
this has had a direct impact on performance of public schools in those
regions.
“Teacher absenteeism is something we have to deal with,” the CS warned.
He
also warned ministry staff that promotions would no longer be based on
how many years particular officials had stayed in one job group as is
the usual practice in the civil service.
“Performance,
not presence, will determine mobility,” he said, and criticised
education officials who he said he had met earlier in the month and had
recommended promotions for their colleagues who had stagnated in the
same job group.
While describing cheating in
examinations as “the lowest form of intellectual dishonesty”, Dr
Matiang’i directed that county directors of education take
responsibility for cheating in their regions. Only 12 out of the 47
counties were free of cheating cases.
The CS ordered
that the full results of the examinations — complete with the cases of
cheating — be given to the county officials so that they can deal with
problems affecting their counties. He said he would personally supervise
the county directors of education.
During this year’s
examination, 2,709 irregularities were reported and Dr Matiang’i said it
was time to deal with this “nonsense of cheating”.
He
directed that all data on KCPE results over the last three years be made
public so that the regions can embark on candid conversations and
review the trends in their performance.
He said it was
time for candid conversations and asked all players in the education
sector, including teachers’ unions, to be honest with themselves when
invited for talks with the Teachers Service Commission, which employs
teachers.
The CS also noted that the performance of
public schools had dropped by seven points compared to last year while
that of private schools had improved but made it clear that admission to
Form One places in public secondary schools will be based on equity and
the need to improve access to education for all.
He
said he would be meeting representatives from the Kenya Private Schools
Association on January 5 but made it clear that Form One admission would
not be politicised and not everyone will get their way, saying there
was need “to build consensus and find solutions that benefit everyone”.
The
CS also pledged to issue new guidelines on school fees and revealed
that next month, President Uhuru Kenyatta would launch the process of
reviewing the country’s curriculum
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