Prof George Magoha won't be happy with the muddle of hosting junior secondary school in ill-prepared primary schools. The late ebullient son of the soil – Wuod Gem – was a remarkable human person.
He nursed education ardently through the turbulent Covid-19 era. The rescheduling of the school calendar to recover the lost 2020-2021 session was the handicraft of a professional.
The little giant was a bulldozer. He had no apologies for it – so long as the end justified the means. The end was always a search for excellence in a world teeming with mediocrity. Prof Magoha would berate, rant and pamper provided the message was delivered.
Apart from the Covid-19 challenges, the late Cabinet Secretary for Education babysat the transition from the 8:4:4 system of education to the so-named Competence-Based Learning for lack of better phrasing.
A victim of the system calls it 'complete blood count'. Some call it 'computer-based learning'. Never mind their seniors did not get the laptops they were promised in 2013.
The ministry, poised against a recalcitrant teachers' labour union, struggled to get the work done. The altercations between the ministry, speaking from Jogoo House, and the Kenya National Union of Teachers throwing spanners, were memorable episodes in the endless CBC challenges.
Then Knut secretary general Wilson Sosion and the CS held different ends of the stick. Prof Magoha prevailed because he had the backing of President Uhuru Kenyatta's government.
It was then known secondary schools would host junior secondary classes. This was the understanding when schools closed in November for end-year holidays.
Secondary schools were funded to build more classes for this purpose. But the position changed without ceremony. The decision further compounds CBC planning challenges.
Primary schools are being inspected for their preparedness to host junior secondary. No one prepared these schools for the additional load. No one told primary schools to prepare to host junior secondary classes.
Some of those primary schools are struggling with phasing-out 8:4:4. They don't have sanitation facilities; they do not have extra classrooms. They are understaffed, even as trained teachers speed to retirement without the Teachers Service Commission hire.
On the evening of the transition morning, primary schools are hosting inspection teams to gauge their preparedness. No one prepared the schools for most of these requirements.
The inspectors wanted to know whether the schools have adequate land, valid title deeds and their location in relation to liquor-selling outlets.
Availability of staffrooms, offices, two additional rooms, a science room, space for agriculture projects, special rooms for home science, computer science and optional subjects were being probed.
The inspectors also wanted to establish whether the schools had rooms for storage of applied technical tools, adequate playgrounds, safe water supply, sources of power, kitchens and dining halls.
Lockers or age-appropriate desks, friendly physical infrastructure to persons with disability were also required. Schools are expected to have one toilet for every 30 boys, and one for every 25 girls.
Even the best private primary school may not have some of these facilities. It's marginalisation for struggling village public primary schools.
Discriminative grading of some schools will deny thousands of children access to education, especially in gully-ridden terrains of Midwest Karachuonyo.
