The proposal to demote primary school headteachers lacking degree certificates in January 2024 has been met with opposition.
Kenya National Union of Teachers top officials have rejected the proposal by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms to have primary school head teachers without degrees demoted.
In the proposal the taskforce also want nursery, primary and junior secondary schools to be merged to one comprehensive school managed by a Principal with degree certificate.
However Knut Secretary General Collins Oyuu says the proposal would be the worst labour practice, and the union will not accept it.
“About 99 per cent of head teachers in primary schools are graduates. If anybody thinks head teachers in primary schools are not graduates, then you are wrong,” said Oyuu.
However, he said if there are head teachers without degrees, the union wants them to be allowed to proceed to study without being demoted.
He said most of the teachers in question are qualified to attain degrees.
Oyuu was addressing Knut Coast regional officials at Ronald Ngala Primary School in Mombasa county.
“If there is any teacher who is not a graduate and is a head teacher, we will insist they be allowed to proceed to university and attain the qualification.”
He said the union supports other changes proposed by the team, adding that there is a need to scrap Junior Secondary School (JSS) and Senior Secondary School and have it replaced with a comprehensive school.
Oyuu said the comprehensive school should start from Early Child Development Education (ECDE) level to Grade 12, under one umbrella headed by one principal, unlike where JSS is domiciled in primary and then moves to senior secondary school with different head teachers.
He also supported the recommendation to reduce the powers of the TSC and give them to the Ministry of Education, saying there is always conflict between the ministry and TSC.
If 99% are graduates,why are they rejecting?
What if they lack qualifications to proceed to degree,what is their fate?
KNUT has no powers…….. just like the croaking of frogs that doesn’t prevent cows from taking water.
I graduated in 2014 with second upper,am still a P1 .can’t qualify for any interview,what am I supposed to do? When will these P1 with degrees be promoted..NB.The last lot was promoted in January 2013 ,
Knut consists of a bunch of loud mouthed village idiots with empty brains who have been socialized into opposing any recommendations that come from the government, nowonder they signed a skewed CBA that favored the incompetent administrators and ignored the broke and overworked classroom teachers
Headteachers with only a p1 cert should be demoted with immediate effect cz they’ve been earning too much compared to the P1 teacher yet they hold a common education level. Or better still raise the lower cadre teachers pay bcz they’re the donkeys of work in pry sch.
Teachers have really suffered from the constant shifting of goal posts by the tsc,it is laughable how tsc rewards mediocrity and backwardness by awarding P1 headteachers hefty salaries while denying those with higher qualifications promotions,
Tsc is a fool’s paradise,