STATEMENT ON THE STATUS OF EDUCATION SECTOR
Having accrued considerable experience in public service in numerous capacities, I strongly believe that for any meaningful, positive and measurable change to happen, things must be done differently.
While I do concede that I am not perfect, in the process of reforms of the magnitude required to improve service delivery in the education sector, I also recognise that this process is bound to generate resistance if tangible results are to be achieved.
My management style which has proved successful over the years is walking about at the point of service delivery.
I will qualify this position by citing a few examples:
1. Chronic Absenteeism from the workplace
When I was sworn in as Cabinet Secretary for Education on March 26, 2019 my first engagement at the Ministry of Education was to physically confirm whether Ministry employees report to work at the expected time.
I immediately realised that more that 60% of the offices were empty and unattended by 11am. I then sought to rally the staff and firmly impressed upon them the importance of reporting for duty on time.
To monitor attendance of staff to their duties, I spearheaded the installation of CCTV and biometric devices in all entry and exit points for checking in and out all Ministry personnel.
Though it was initially resisted, within a span of 6 months, cases of absenteeism had reduced to almost zero with nearly all top managers reporting for duty voluntarily by 6:30am, a situation which has remained the same to date.
2. Chronic Absenteeism by Field Officers
Chronic absenteeism in the field has persisted even though significant improvements have improved tremendously. A small number of field officers limit their work to their offices with little effort to physically monitor implementation of education programmes in the field unless a senior Ministry official from the Headquarters is present.
This is however negated by a substantive number of dedicated field officers whose impact in the field is laudable.
During my numerous field visits, I have been able to identify competent officers such as Mr. Weru Machocho who I promoted and deployed as a Regional Director and he has demonstrated excellent results in a short span of a month especially through visiting more than 200 schools to physically inspect and ensure that Economic Stimulus Programme for desks are fabricated as per prototype specification and delivered to schools promptly.
For a measurable impact to be made, all government employees must work for the pay that they earn monthly.
In my many field visits I have noted that chronic absenteeism is the single leading cause of poor quality assurance and oversight by the Ministry.
On this concern, I wish to confirm that for as long as I remain at the helm of the Ministry, I shall continue to ensure that all Ministry employees deliver services to the public as per their job descriptions.
3. Field Visits
I wish to begin by thanking senior officers from the Head Quarters for their numerous and very effective visits to the field since these have strongly supported service delivery by the Ministry.
During my numerous field visits, I have observed and made public pronouncements many times that I have continuously found our teachers in class teaching diligently and demonstrating that they are hardworking, and committed in their teaching.
However, there are a number of instances when our field officers do not provide the necessary support and superintendence required for effective service delivery.
The rights of learners, teachers, parents and the wider public who are directly and indirectly affected by the education sector must be safeguarded by all public officers in the education sector by being hands-on and diligent.
4. Misappropriation of Public Funds in the Ministry of Education
As public officers, we are duty bound to ensure that Kenyans their hard-earned taxes and other revenues from the public kitty is utilised prudently.
This can only be achieved if we embrace hands-on management of these resources.
This management approach has been instrumental in identifying lapses within the Ministry where Public Funds have been misappropriated and measures to ensure that I effectively intervene have been deployed.
In order to ensure that proper planning and record keeping is maintained the CBC Taskforce undertook an exercise to collect data from all learning institutions and the learners in each institution.
This can now be verified and is fully documented. A key example among others of the significance of the Taskforce’s findings is in the primary school sector where due diligence identified an inflation of numbers of learners from 8.47 million to 9 million learners. The shortfall of 529,997 learners has led to the saving of Kshs. 752,594,740 annually.
5. The Government Stimulus programme for the delivery of desks worth Kshs.1.9 billion
The government allocated Kshs.1.9 billion under the Economic Stimulus Programme for the supply of desks to schools in order to enhance social distancing as a strategy of reducing Covid-19 transmission.
I tasked one of the units in the Ministry to develop and cost a prototype. When I did due diligence of establishing the market prices of the desks, I realised that the Unit at the Ministry had inflated the cost by Ksh 1,700, which means only 250,000 desks would have been supplied. The Ministry set the prices at Ksh 2500 and Ksh 3800 for primary and secondary school desks respectively.
The government will now be able to supply 622,157 locally assembled desks to 5,136 public primary (359,450 desks) and 5,243 public secondary schools (262,707 desks, lockers and chairs).
This programme seeks to ensure that local jua kali artisans and workshops at the sub-county level are supported to uplift thousands of livelihoods and support learners with desks that would mitigate the effects of social distancing in preventing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The process of fabricating and delivering the desks took off in earnest and when I demanded for a report from Sub- Counties which had delivered desks to schools I was taken aback when I sought to verify the reports by sampling and going to the field in person.
In Kakamega North where the schools identified were five (5), I only found delivery in 2 schools and the desks delivered in those schools were of poor quality, not varnished and did not meet the specifications of the prototype.
The same was exemplified by Mumias East and numerous other sub-counties across the country.
I wish to thank all the field officers who are correcting such anomalies in an effort to fabricate and deliver the quality and standards of desks required as per the prototype.
6. 100% transition
The policy on 100% transition which was implemented from 2018 was only successful this year through mobilisation of all education field officers and co-ordination with the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government working as a team to mop up all children who had not reported to Form 1 at the expected time.
The operation was successful because I personally demanded that every education field officer must account for every child who had completed Class 8 and I visited all areas that had reported many cases of children who had not been admitted including those who were pregnant or from disadvantaged families.
In addition, the Ministry of Interior and Co-ordination of National Government through its Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Fred Matiangí ensured that all his field officers were fully engaged.
Conclusion
I thank all officers within the education sector for their diligence and continue to persuade the few who are left behind to join us in delivering for the Kenyan child as a team.
Unless otherwise directed by my appointing authority, I shall continue to perform ALL my duties and responsibilities with zeal and commitment and ensure that ALL officers in the Ministry of Education perform their duties for the benefit of the Kenyan Child, Parents and all education stakeholders.
Prof. George A. O. Magoha, CBS
CABINET SECRETARY
Dated: November 14, 2020
Trained by colonial teachers and appointed by head of state Prof. Mahoha hasn’t learnt that leadership using colonial strategies including public insults have no place. If he was worth any thing better than self defence at every level, hould have resigned from the post. He is too arrogant and behaves in a primitive and bullying manner. This is completely unprofessional.
Prof uko poa, shinda tu ni matuzi, hiyo ndiyo itakuleleka nyumbani na kotini. Most likely some lawyers are preparing papers. If you escape the Nancy Baraza’s path, count yourself lucky and change your ways.
True. There is no doubt that CS Magoha has a great wealth of knowledge. I don’t think anyone has or will question that. His problem is attitude. You have to get your attitude right. Learning entails change of behaviour and you can only help people change what they are doing wrong if you demonstrate that you are on their side and that together you will deliver the results. That requires a different attitude from the arrogant and abrasive attitude the professor exhibits. If he fails, he will do so because he has failed to manage people. Many times, people have resisted what was good because they were treated with spite
This man is just a mare despot,positions are there to pass,humanity is paramount.I hate this CS,our humble president should just get rid of him for the sake of our Kenyan teachers who are as well parents back in their homes.
Fight hard Magoha! Cartels are up in arms again! You killed the exam cartels, the textbook cartels and now, the school lockers cartels. Tell me, which parent here has not been overwhelmingly annoyed by his/ her lazy child! Fight hard,Magoha, cartels are all around you. Hit them all
Thank you as Nagoya for all the effort you have made. It’s true that there is so much improvement in time management and saving resources.Yes you are harsh but with reason. Again all human beings have different personalities. That’s the true you you are not a pretender. God bless you.
Alot of pride , Cs thinks he is the only educated person in kenya
Bwana CS you have done grate in a number of areas however, you must apologize for insults at the officer you arrogantly abused. There are laid down procedures and processes of handling disciplinary matters among civil/ public servants and you cannot insult others as a short cut to disciplining them.
It shall cost you nothing to say sorry; we are all aware nobody is perfect including yourself but refusing to do the right thing which is to offer an apology to the aggrieved shall only worsen things. You may go with it because you wield power but it shall not be well with your seeds now or in future, now that you claim to be a Christian.
Bwana CS you have done grate in a number of areas however, you must apologize for insults at the officer you arrogantly abused. There are laid down procedures and processes of handling disciplinary matters among civil/ public servants and you cannot insult others as a short cut to disciplining them.
It shall cost you nothing to say sorry; we are all aware nobody is perfect including yourself but refusing to do the right thing which is to offer an apology to the aggrieved shall only worsen things. You may go with it because you wield power but it shall not be well with your seeds now or in future, now that you claim to be a Christian.
Bwana Magoha,stop beating the bush and do an honourable thing, apologize to that Old man otherwise remember pride comes before a fall,stop behaving like a goddess We have a God above all no matter what position you are holding in the government.come back to your senses and imagn suppose you die today,what legacy will you have left to your fellow Kenyans” the arrogant can””
CORRUPTION AT MAASAI MARA UNIVERSITY AND REAPPOINTMENT OF CORRUPT OCHOLA AS PWANI UNIVERSITY CHAIR
As shown by the CITIZEN TV under Mara Heist.Millions of shillings were stolen under the leadership of the Chair,Dr Samuel Ochola who was found culpable by the DCI report.
You know it very well and you have re_appointed the same Dr Samuel Ochola aged 75years last week as chairman of Pwani University.
You have failed the Kenyan youth and Kenyans by appointing someone that stolen Poor Kenyans monkey and aged too.
Kenyan youths are disappointed with you sir
While we commend the work that you are doing, it’s not easy to manage people we know that. We know that you are zealous with the work that you do and we appreciate that. We appreciate all the reforms that you have made in the education sector. However insults proffesor? That is so low, uncouth and uncivilized. It’s a form of colonisation in my opinion. Just like you have acknowledged that you aren’t perfect, the people you are dealing with aren’t perfect as well. So you may want to keep that in mind. You can’t insult a senior before his juniours and you expect them to perform. If insulting is your style of leadership, then you might consider doing it in private.
Good Prof pls also also My Good general in NMS for some leakage on the difference between a war and a battle.
He has not said what he has done in implementation of adult education which is his docket. The subsector is completely neglected. Senior management in the Ministry don’t talk about it, leave alone providing resources to the subsector.
Good Prof pls also also ask My Good general in NMS for some leakage on the difference between a war and a battle.
You can still do everything you have listed above without insulting people. You of all people should know that. Shame on you.
YOU HAVE FAILED KENYANS BY SUPPORTING CORRUPTION AT UNIVERSITIES-MAASAI MARA UNIVERSITY IS THE MOTHER OF CORRUPTION.
You have reappointed the former chairman of Maasai Mara University Dr Samuel Ochola who is 80yrs old has been confirmed of being corrupt by the DCI.
You know very well that he has stolen hundreds of poor tax payers money and gave him another job as pwani university chairman.
I initially thought that Cs Magoha is very upright but certain reports reveal his weakness which is failing the Kenyan youth.
Sir!stop the appointment of octogenarians when youth are suffering.
Many have reported that talk tough but inside things are totally different.
Drinking wine talking water
Thanks for your efforts to improve the standards of education in the country.you are God sent.keep on and listen less to critics.
You only need refresher courses in management. You will be perfect don’t you worry. Theatre and human resources may be a bit different.
Magoha has resisted the increasing of school fees both in universities and secondary schools leave alone carrying on Matiang’is legacy of preventing exam cheating.
Magoha you are too proud .proud comes before a fall.you are falling soon
Too proud
Prof.You are the most clueless CS that Kenyans have never seen.At your age our able presdent MUST send you parking
Above all, that does not mean you either humiliate, abuse, bully or harassing any employee, sinior or Junior
This is very great, Professor. As people on the ground, your speech touches on nearly all that affects the bad performance in the Kenyan education. As regards desks delivery, and especially in parts of Kakamega, many who applied and got tenders, don’t have any idea of a workshop. Those who awarded the tenders at Subcounty level must be called to account
Don’t mind much what the press writes, theirs is business.
The best prof can do now is to resign and go home. If he doesn’t, Kenyatta must suck him. He’s either senile or mad and can’t offer anything to the public right now.
You are on the right track Prof.Do not tolerate nonsense.However do it with a humane face.
Apologies to the CDE first otherwise everything you did in the ministry of education will never count.
Ministry of wildlife may be your next appointment if it may be.
Very true Prof keep up.
He should resign. We got better persons who can handle that docket far more better
Very poor management style,text book kit was removed from the school management to your few friends,no consistency in fpe.disbursmemt,poor advice toward Dictatorship style at 21century
Keep up the good work
Nonsense..Apologise to the mzee u called mjinga sana and then…SHUT UP
One man supervision!!! has yielded results? You need to go to school of government, the desks price has impoverished the jua Kali artisans if you don’t know, prototype were done in Nairobi where raw materials are cheap as compared to rural areas, the rural schools have no roofs and the blockboard is the worst material for use because once rained on the desk will peel of in no time, you should have consulted, failure to consult is arrogance in management
The good Prof is doing a good job. Jokers must be disciplined.
Humility is a strength not a weakness.Acknowledge that you erred and apologize to the general public and CDE
Yes, the gains made following frequent field visits cannot be disputed. The ‘anomaly’ comes in the manner of carrying out CORRECTIVE MEASURES (where required): Demeaning a junior employee in the process of reprimanding them is NOT part of the internationally acclaimed BEST PRACTICES.
Good things don’t come easy.
Commendable work,….though need to avoid insults such propagating reproach on senior education officers
No management has ever been impresivise in totality but I believe The CS’s style is destroying the colonial status quo. This collution against prof is contemporary . Change is now with prof before his term is over to avoid regrets; that I wish Magoha was the…. Copy his style and learn to be pragmatic with it. Keep up CS
Nothing new,those before you came with those policies it’s a continuation from where thy stopped,this is the 21century,you also must adapt to change not the old colonial rule n be your self stop trying to imitate Mr matiangi
Congratulations bwana Cs..good policies,??
Good report but Magoha should know that he can’t supervise the whole country alone. He should empower other officers below him. Being a professor he should have acquired PR skills. The leadership style he is using is outdated.