Secondary school heads in Kisumu county want the state to streamline the remittance of capitation funds to schools for the education of students.
Kenya Secondary School Heads Association Kisumu county chairman George Nyangwe on Tuesday said the current system is sometimes cumbersome and locks out a number of learners.
He said the system known as the National Education Management Information System (Nemis) has a number of challenges that should be addressed by the Ministry of Education.
Nyangwe said some of the common challenges include losing the network at times, resulting in stalled operations.
Speaking in Kisumu after a council meeting, he said the anomaly also causes delays in the dispatch of funds to the affected schools.
“Sometimes the funds in question are not disbursed at all due to the Nemis challenges,” he said.
The chairman noted that the problem sometimes worsens when students change schools since their names are not captured in Nemis in their new schools.
Nyangwe, who is the principal of Sango Buru Mixed Day and Boarding Secondary School in Nyakach, said schools should not be punished because of the dishonesty of some heads.
“The Ministry of Education has mechanisms of identifying unscrupulous heads,” he said.
He said the jam in the system at times leads to missing names of some students. That means the school in question also fails to secure the desired funding, he said.
Nyangwe called for improved networks in Nemis operations to enhance efficiency. He also called on teachers to take the Covid-19 jab to protect themselves and their students.
He regretted that some school heads in the county have died of Covid-19. There are 232 principals in Kisumu.
“The war on the pandemic requires a collective responsibility. It is, therefore, very important for every principal to take bold steps and be vaccinated,” Nyangwe said.
The chairman appealed to school heads with underlying health conditions to make it a priority to go for the vaccination.
He further advised teachers to observe the health protocols to guard against the virus.
Nyangwe said he has mobilised health workers in the county to visit schools and vaccinate teachers.
Teachers Service Commission chief executive officer Nancy Macharia has in the past expressed concern over the low uptake of the vaccine among teachers.
Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua had on August 5 directed all public servants to get vaccinated by August 23 or face disciplinary action.
Public Service PS Mary Kimonye said civil servants who would not have received their first jab by deadline risk losing their salaries, benefits and allowances. They could also be locked out of their offices.
In Nyanza, regional commissioner Magu Mutindika said his officers were mandated to list ID and telephone numbers of officers as they get vaccinated.
"The information is also captured in the human resource database and by Monday morning, we will have established the exact number of civil servants who have been vaccinated in the region," he said.
Magu said his office will ensure those who are not vaccinated do so by Monday evening.
"We have enough vaccines for all of them. I have not received any information about shortages or stock out in the region," he said.
Kenya National Union of Teachers secretary general Collins Oyuu also encouraged members to go for the jab. He, however, called on the government to stop issuing ultimatums on the drive, saying vaccines have not reached some places.
"Last Friday in Kapenguria, teachers who had flocked to facilities to get vaccinated had to go back home without being served because of a shortage," he said.
Oyuu said the union was taking the drive seriously and would on Wednesday launch a national campaign for all teachers. He said that of the 320,000 teachers in the country, only 35 per cent have been vaccinated.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
