The call for the abolition of boarding schools in Kenya is gaining momentum after secondary school teachers supported the proposed directive.
Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) on Saturday, September 11, called on the government to begin the progressive phase-out of boarding schools to ease teachers' workload.
Secretary-General Akelo Misori pointed out that teachers in boarding schools work for long hours yet they do not get extra pay as compared to their counterparts in day schools.
He noted that boarding schoolteachers must spend more time to ensure that students make up for the time lost when schools were closed due to the global pandemic.
He was speaking at a meeting with the union's delegates from upper and lower eastern regions in Embu town.
Misori lamented that boarding school teachers are more burdened as they have to play a double role in teaching and parenting because they also have to watch learners and make sure they are safe after classes.
The union added that all efforts must be made to ensure that all learners go home in the evening so that both parents and teachers have an input into their lives.
KUPPET Chairman Omboko Milemba faulted the Ministry of Education for labelling teaching as essential service providers and asking school heads to stay in school for longer hours.
“It is wrong to ask teachers to stay longer hours than usual, yet you don’t get them means to go back home or give them an allowance for that matter,” the chairman lamented.
The officials also made remarks pertaining to the security situation in Laikipia County called on the government to move with speed to ensure calm is restored.
They noted having members there who have been caught up in the mix.
They threatened to withdraw their teachers from class if the Laikipia security situation did not improve in the days to come.
“If the situation does not improve the soonest, we will have no other choice than to ask teachers to stay away from class,” Omboko stated.
Earlier on in the year Education CS George Magoha formed The Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) taskforce who proposed the scrapping of boarding in secondary schools under the new 2-6-3-3-3 education system.
The taskforce called for boarding schools to be left for a few institutions to admit learners across the country who follow different paths in high school.
