• Kimando says the ministry wants to push the number of special needs learners in secondary schools to at least 20,000.
• TSC says it cannot punish teachers who are allegedly non-performing without adequate reasons.
Principals should ensure their schools accommodate students with special needs and disabilities, the Education ministry has said.
Education ministry special needs coordinator Kakuu Kimando on Thursday said this is to encourage more special needs learners to seek education without fear of discrimination.
There are slightly below 5,000 such learners in secondary schools. Kimando said the ministry wants to push the number of special needs learners in secondary schools to at least 20,000.
“This is a very small number compared to learners in high schools,” she told principals attending the 44th Kessha annual conference at the Kenya School of Revenue Administration in Mombasa.
She said also urged employers to recruit people with special needs.
Kimando said secondary schools are the gateway for students to access higher education. “Unless all of us are moving together, we are not moving. Those with disabilities need to move with us.”
At the same time, the Teachers Service Commission said it has received a list of about 1,000 non-performing teachers. The teachers' employer said the principals want them punished, including transfers.
However, Director of Human Resource at the commission Josephine Maundu said the list has no corresponding records of misdemeanour to warrant their dismissal.
She said the commission cannot act against the supposedly non-performing teachers because, surprisingly, when the commission asked for their files, their records were clean.
Maundu said this means the head teachers do not take any kind of action, including warning letters or reporting the non-performing teachers to their immediate bosses.
She said from the complaints they get, the non-forming teachers are usually accused of using drugs, taking excessive alcohol and being mentally unstable.
“There is usually nothing on the files that the commission can use to make a decision.
The commission uses the Code of Regulations to manage the teachers.
It provides for managing exits, disciplinary issues, sick leaves, among others.
“Unfortunately, almost 90 per cent of the files have no records. So, the issue is, who is managing those teachers at your institutions?” Maundu asked.
“If you are managing them, why are you not bringing to the attention of the commission the challenges the teachers have.”
She said the commission cannot wake up one day and make a decision over a teacher without enough records to challenge the teacher’s performance.
Maundu said the principals are the first quality assurance officers, and they should be in a position to help the commission by assessing whether the non-performing teacher has social, medical, mental or any other kind of problem.
She said principals should be managers.
“Let us not be operating on sympathy when we are dealing with our work environment. As much as we want to be sympathetic, let us also sympathise with the students,” Maundu said.