KNUT, KUPPET DISAGREEMENT OVER CBC TRANSITION
KNUT, KUPPET DISAGREEMENT OVER CBC TRANSITION
KNUT, KUPPET DISAGREEMENT OVER CBC TRANSITION
KNUT, KUPPET DISAGREEMENT OVER CBC TRANSITION
The two teachers’ unions have differed over the physical transition of Grade Six pupils after their national assessment.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers (KUPPET) both want the seventh graders to remain under their jurisdiction.
KNUT argues that moving the children to secondary schools will pose a risk to their safety, while KUPPET insists that secondary schools are better equipped to handle the transition.
Both unions however call for better funding of the education sector and better handling of exams. They made their views known as they made their submissions to the presidential working party on education reforms.
KNUT Secretary General Collins Oyuu said: “Junior secondary be domiciled in primary schools, and we shall refer to junior secondary as intermediate. Because questions are lingering about why we have senior primary…senior actually comes in after junior…so we’re saying don’t refer to this as junior secondary.”
His KUPPET counterpart Akelo Misori, on his part, stated: “Junior secondary is a secondary school curriculum, and in that respect it is best placed in the secondary school, and it is also premised in the aspect that secondary schools are already preparing to have them, our primary schools do not have the necessary competencies.”
KNUT arguments against moving the sixth graders to high school are also based on age, with the union insisting that it’s imprudent to mix the children aged between 11 to 14 with those from 15 to 19 years in the same premises, a fact disputed by the rival union.
“Let me just emphasise, somebody who is going to Standard 7 or Grade 7 is a very old person…personally i went to Form One when I was 13,” stated Mr. Misori.
The two unions however agree on the need for a uniform approach to the assessments and administration of the exams by the national examination body, especially for the Grade Six pupils, with KNUT suggesting that the assessments for the CBC be localised through sub-county and county assessment committees.
At the same time, KNUT wants the CBC curriculum to be broadened to include moral and community service education, but at the same time parental engagement be reduced to lessen their financial burden.
KUPPET, on the other hand, wants the government to increase funding for the education sector to increase the number of teachers who should also be retrained to move with the advances in technology within the education sector.
The working party says its report will be ready in early December, and is expected to shape the next phase of the implementation of the CBC systems, amongst other reforms in the education sector.
