Four hot issues - the CBA, the new 2-6-6-3 curriculum, national examinations and free secondary school education - dominated yesterday’s session of the Kenya Secondary School Heads’ Association in Mombasa.
TSC chairperson Dr Lydia Nzomo steered away from the CBA topic, saying commission CEO Nancy Macharia will discuss the topic today.
However, Knut and Kuppet warned they will not accept anything different from what teachers and TSC signed on October 25, 2016.
The CBA will be implemented over a four-year period, starting July 1, 2017 to July 2021.
However, Knut secretary general Wilson Sossion said they will push for it to go down to two years.
The cost of living might affect the gains expected in the CBA. What looks like good money now, will not be very good in the next two years, Sossion said.
School heads said they are not aware of the details of the CBA.
Job groups will be redesigned and salaries increased over four years.
Currently, principals are grouped into job groups M, N and P, which is principal, senior principal and chief principal respectively.
They will now be grouped into job groups D-5, D-4 and D-3 for national, extra-county and county schools respectively.
National school principals are expected to earn between Sh89,748 and Sh157,651 by the time the CBA comes to an end in 2021.
Principals at the extra-county schools will start to earn between Sh77,000 to Sh121,890.
Principals at the county schools, who are at the same level with deputy principals at the national schools, will be taking home between Sh48,590 and Sh104,644.
This comes after reports emerged that both Kuppet and Knut have written concept papers to both Jubilee and NASA warning them against free secondary education.
Substandard education, higher student-to-teacher ratio and deplorable and unmaintained school structures have been a problem.
Sossion said free secondary education is not attainable now and if Jubilee and NASA force it, there will be chaos.
Sossion said the teacher-to-student ratio must conform to primary to secondary transition rates. He demanded the signing of an executive order by the President for the recruitment of more teachers before the plans take effect.
There is a shortage of 90,000 teachers. The TSC requires Sh15 billion to recruit 60,000 tutors.
“Transfer what is in laptop project to the TSC,” Sossion said.
He criticised the manner in which the curriculum reforms have been undertaken.
Sossion said it cannot be piloted before materials are prepared and tested.
The government is planning to have a pilot programme of the 2-6-6-3 system - a departure from the old 8-4-4 system.
“It can take one year to just test. There will be chaos if the state will rushes the programme,” Sossion said.
Kenya is shifting from objective to competence-based education.
But South Africa and Malaysia which implemented such system in a rush, failed, triggering a return to the old system.