John Matiangi(Left) KNUT National Treasurer,KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion(Centre)& Wycliffe Omucheyi(Right) National Chairman KNUT while addressing the press said the implementation of Competency Based Curriculum is illegal in nature and a violation of the Constitution and that the Union is equally hesitant to rally behind the rollout of CBC. [Wilberforce Okwiri/Standard]
The hard-line stand by the Ministry of Education, growing outcry from 280 interdicted teachers and fears that the teachers’ employer was planning to sanction more officials forced the giant teachers’ union to back down on opposition to the new curriculum.
National Advisory Council (NAC) members of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) who attended the hurriedly convened crisis meeting on Wednesday told The Standard sharp divisions were emerging in the union as the interdicted teachers continued to suffer under top officials’ watch.
As Knut leadership protested the interdiction and asked Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to respect court orders, 60 more were sanctioned and their salaries stopped.
Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting, the delegates said the delay by TSC to reinstate the interdicted teachers had subjected them to hunger, accumulated bills and frustration.
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A letter to TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia by Knut Secretary-General Wilson Sossion on May 30 captured the frustrations of teachers and the union leadership.
“It is shocking to us that indeed you have chosen not to comply with the orders and that you continue to subject 280 teachers across the country to unnecessary suffering, torture, humiliation and total indignity despite the court’s pronouncement,” read the letter.
Delegates said outright defiance of the union leadership was emerging as the teachers increasingly got convinced that the union had failed to protect them.
It is also emerged that TSC had instructed its county officials to interdict any of the 440 union officials who would abscond classes to attend the NAC meeting convened in Nairobi.
The meeting brought together branch officials, who include union secretaries, chairpersons, women representatives and treasurers.
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Most of these officials are senior teachers and heads of institutions. Sossion wrote to all union executive secretaries calling for the meeting on June 6.
“We hereby ask all the executive secretaries to ensure full attendance by members of the NAC. And for the avoidance of doubt, the chairmen, executive secretaries, treasurers and women representatives are members of Advisory Council,” said Sossion in his letter dated May 30.
A day later, TSC sent a memo to all TSC Regional Directors (RDs) and County Directors (CDs) instructing them to enforce contents of an earlier directive that required head teachers to be in school at all times.
“In the recent past, some lapses have been noted in the compliance with the guidelines outlined in the circular. The purpose of this memo is to underline the need for all RDs, CDs and Sub-County Directors to fully enforce the contents of the circular,” reads the memo dated May 31.
The February 1, 2017 circular directs all TSC regional directors to ensure absence in school by head teachers is minimised at all cost.
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The circular also directs that union officials only attend weekend events.
“All sacco, union and societies officials are required to schedule their programmes during weekends and school holidays,” reads the circular signed by TSC boss.
Tipped over the impending action, Knut leadership hurriedly sent text messages to the officials to attend the meeting on Wednesday, which was a public holiday to mark Idd-ul-Fitr.
The message, however, indicated that the change of date was necessitated by the need for Sossion to travel on June 6 to attend an International Labour Organisation (ILO) conference.
Union officials who spoke to The Standard also said the hard statements made by Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha curtailed Knut’s agenda to stall the national roll-out.
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“I wish to assure the public that we will do everything to ensure we do not drop the ball in CBC implementation. No amount of opposition, real or imagined, will make us back-pedal on implementing the curriculum,” Prof Magoha had said earlier.
In addition to this, Magoha’s launch of the Curriculum Policy to anchor the curriculum was a clear indication that the Government was not going back on the process of implementing the CBC.
He also said the ministry submitted the Sessional Paper to Parliament last year for discussion and adoption. Magoha has also appointed a nine-member committee to prepare for August’s curriculum reforms conference on CBC.
And at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, about 100 experts have been monitoring the teaching and understanding of the new curriculum in public schools countrywide.
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Related Topics
Ministry of EducationKnutTSCMagohaSossionCBC
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