Some private schools in Kirinyaga have been accused of poaching bright pupils from other institutions to raise their exams mean scores and attract more parents.
Solomon Munene, the operations director at Kerugoya Municipality Boarding Primary School (KMBPS), said such antics were unethical. He, however, did not mention any school.
Munene said while some academies poach the best students to boost their scores, others have qualifier exams which they use to gauge their pupils and only those who score 350 marks and above are registered as KCPE candidates in their centres.
He said such schools focus on “spoon-feeding” learners to excel in the KCPE exam, only for them to lag behind academically in secondary schools.
The educator cautioned parents against falling for such tricks.
Munene advised parents to enrol their children to schools that have embraced the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) in its entirety.
He said CBC puts emphasis on a child’s abilities and talent and the teacher’s duty is to assist them to exploit their potential without hurting their self-esteem.
Munene spoke during a graduation ceremony for pre-school and lower primary pupils at KMBPS.
He announced that Kerugoya Municipality School will plant 35,000 trees in Kirinyaga county to mark 35 years since its establishment.
County director of education Abdikadil Aden on Monday told the Star he has not heard of student poaching cases, but he will investigate. He said, however, the department ensures all schools, including private, follow the laid down rules and regulations.
