The High Court on Friday overturned a directive by Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i that ordered the dissolution of school boards.
Dr Matiang'i had earlier in the month announced that all schools sharing the same land should be under one headteacher and each unit can then be under a different deputy headteacher.
"Performance in a number of schools that have both primary and secondary schools in the same environment has often been beset with legitimacy squabbles and turf wars which tend to compromise teaching and learning programmes.
"The Ministry, in liaison with the Teachers Service Commission, will consolidate the management of such schools effective 2018 so that they will be under one board of management and one overall principal, with a deputy for primary and another for secondary school," the CS announced as he launched the Form One selection exercise.
[caption caption="Education CS Fred Matiang'i"]
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The decision was met with strong opposition from the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) who argued that Dr Matiang'i's timing was off.
"That kind of arrangement where one head manages both the primary and the secondary school cannot work. In fact, such pronunciation is not well thought out," KUPPET Secretary General Akelo Misori stated.
He added that the decision should be subjected to public participation before going forward, accusing the Ministry of Education of incompetence.
"The mode of instruction in primary schools is different from that of secondary. How do you expect a teacher who has never handled students in adolescence to behave when confronted with such a situation?
"The decision indicates lack of capacity by the Ministry of Education in solving conflicts on specific issues. Perhaps it’s an indictment that we lack the capacity to handle such policy issues," Mr Misori argued.
Dr Matinagi'i had also announced that 19 national schools will admit day scholars on an experimental basis to tackle the issue of congestion in boarding facilities.
[caption caption="President Uhuru Kenyatta with Education CS Fred Matiang'i and Majority Leader Aden Duale"]
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