• Government tried to ban holiday tuition in 2008 and 2016
• Now teachers can lose their jobs if they are caught coaching pupils during the holidays.
In 2008 and then again in 2016, government unsuccessfully tried to ban holiday tuition by teachers. Now the Teacher Service Commission has listed it as a disciplinary offence in the TSC Amendment Bill so that teachers can lose their jobs if they commit various offences, including holiday tuition.
This has been opposed by the Kenya National Union of Teachers who say their input was not considered.
The ban on holiday tuition failed because there was no mandated punishment for teaching pupils in the holidays.
Coaching has been an avenue for teachers to top up their salaries. It is even alleged that some teachers skip certain classes during term time so that pupils are forced to attend remedial classes in the holidays to cover the whole syllabus before exams.
So these reforms mean that teachers will be out of pocket. But they are still necessary. Children need to refresh their batteries in the holidays and follow their extra-curricular interests. If they have to attend classes in the holidays, they will not mature into well-rounded citizens.
So parents should not be forced to pay for holiday tuition for their children.
Quote of the day: "Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't going away."
Elvis Presley
The American singer was born on February 8, 1935