Study past proposals to better manage schools, head teachers told

Head teachers break for lunch on the first day of the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association workshop in Nakuru on September 8, 2016. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH 

In Summary

• Most principals attending a management workshop in Nakuru confessed that said they have never interacted with the reports.
• The Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association national chairman Mr John Awiti said his association has discovered that majority of its members don’t know the content of the reports.
• He said teachers were not entirely to blame as they were not supplied with the copies of the past task force reports.

By FRANCIS MUREITHI
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Head teachers have been urged to familiarise themselves with the past Education task force reports on indiscipline in schools to enable them deal with emerging challenges in manning their schools.

Most principals attending a management workshop in Nakuru confessed that said they have never interacted with the David Koech report on school unrest, the Naomi Wangai report on school curriculum and Bishop Kirima report on devil worshipping in schools.

The Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association national chairman Mr John Awiti said his association has discovered that majority of its members don’t know the content of the task force reports which have details on the causes and remedies of the school unrest in school.

He observed that since most of the school heads had not read the reports they kept on repeating the same mistake in their school management style and thus fuelling the unrest.

However, he said teachers were not entirely to blame as they were not supplied with the copies of the past task force reports.

The official urged the Ministry of Education to fast-track the availability of the reports to the school managers as one way of equipping them with skills to deal with unrest in their institutions.

STICKY ISSUES

Mr Awiti who is also the principal of St Marys Yala School said the task reports are crucial in the management of the schools and addressing the current unrest as they contain some tips on how to manage the schools.

However, he noted that the task reports have not addressed some fundamental issues such teachers’ shortage, which is one of the sticky issues that has also been blamed for the strikes by the learners.

The meeting which ends Friday will also discuss the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) code of regulation 2015 in the context of emerging challenges in schools.

It will also tackle the procedures in handling teacher discipline cases in schools and intelligence gathering and disaster management.

The meeting at Hotel Kunste in Nakuru Town has attracted a total of 700 teachers from 10 counties of of Nakuru, Kiambu, Nyeri, Kericho, Kajiado, Baringo, Kiambu, Nyeri, Narok and Uasin Gishu.