The School PRESS Magazines

"MAZIWA YA MOI" IMPROVED LITERACY IN THE COUNTRY.
Ask many people who went to school in the 80’s and early 90’s what they remember most about President Daniel Arap Moi, and chances are they will say nostalgically: free milk. Nyayo milk was one of the late President's pet projects, alongside the Nyayo buses that plied across the city and the Nyayo tea zones that supplied Kenyan tea.

"A lorry would come with milk a few minutes to 1 o'clock and we would scramble for the opportunity to be in charge of distributing it because you would get two packets if it was you," recalls Benjamin Imende. The milk came in triangular packets — 200ml tetra pak — and were flavoured with sugar. Pupils would line up excitedly for a share at lunchtime. It was distributed once or twice a week, depending on the school.
Nyayoism was Mzee Moi's creed of peace, love and unity. Moi introduced the Nyayo milk concept in 1979 until around 1992. The tactic worked brilliantly in promoting education. People would go to school not because of thirst for knowledge but for 'Maziwa ya Nyayo'. But in the process, they would get an education. Education was a topic close to Moi's heart. In the year he became President in 1978, he famously donated 500 acres of his farm at Kabarak for a school that enrols pupils from every tribe. As explained in Andrew Morton's biography, The making of an African statesmen, education was a particular passion to Moi not only because of his original career as a teacher but as an engine of progress.
"He views education as the key to ending tribalism and the greater war on tribalism. He suggested the building of a national school in each district to break down tribal barriers," the book notes.
Mzee's impact on education is celebrated in part by the many schools named after him. These include Moi High School Kabarak (Nakuru), Moi High School-Mbiruri (Embu), Moi Girls Eldoret and Moi Forces High School.
A university was also established in his name in 1984 by the Moi University Act of the Parliament of Kenya, after recommendations from the McKay Commission.
But the trademark of his education legacy is the Nyayo milk. This was a lifeline to barefooted pupils in far-flung primary schools, who could otherwise go without lunch. Moi believed milk was key to making schoolchildren stay healthy and strong. Reminiscing the era in June last year, then Education CS Amina Mohamed said, "In those days, we saw improved school attendance and good general health." She was presiding over the launch of '3 Dairies a Day' initiative, a school programme to educate pupils and teachers on the importance of dairy products, fittingly at the Moi Educational Centre in Nairobi. The project targets 350 primary schools and more than 200,000 pupils in Nairobi and its environs.
"I am delighted that a new generation will once again experience this and it is in this spirit that the Ministry of Education is teaming up with Brookside Dairy," Amina said. Moi died on Tuesday morning at the age of 95 following a long illness. He was the oldest living former Kenyan President at the time of his death. Though Nyayo milk eventually collapsed like the other Nyayo projects, it retains a soft spot in Kenyans' hearts.

DEATH TOLL RISE TO 14 AND 39 INJURIES AT KAKAMEGA PRIMARY
The death toll from the stampede that occurred on Monday evening at Kakamega Primary School has risen to 14 after one more pupil succumbed to injuries.
Kakamega Central OCPD David Kabena had earlier placed the number of learners killed at 13 with at least 39 injured.
One more learner later died at Nala Nursing Home, according to Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya.
Two of the injured pupils were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at the Kakamega County Referral Hospital.
According to the OCPD the pupils most of them in Class Five were leaving their classes heading home when the stampede occurred on a staircase at around 5pm.
It is reported that a teacher at the school was beating some pupils prompting the other learners to run down a staircase and in the process, some fell and were trampled to death.
However, further investigations into the incident are ongoing.
Education CS Prof. George Magoha expressed his condolences to the affected families, even as he assured that the government would get to the root cause of the tragedy.
“The loss of a child is very painful. My condolences to parents who have lost their want to children.We want to find out why we had a stampede in the school. PS Belio Kipsang will be in the school tomorrow. We will find out what happened and action will be taken,” said Magoha in a phone interview

MASS TRANSFER OF TEACHERS FROM GARRISA COUNTY WON'T AFFECT STUDIES, PARENTS ASSURED.
Garissa County Director of Education Khalif Isaack has assured parents, students and pupils from the area that no school would be closed following the mass transfers of non-local teachers.
Khalif was reacting to resolutions reached at a meeting by the affected schools board of management held at Garissa high school Friday that asked parents to withdraw their children from school from Monday until the Teachers’ Service Commission (TSC) revokes the transfers. Addressing the press in his office, Khalif said that the boards have no powers to close the schools.
The education director asked parents to allow their children to report for classes as normal on Monday as his office finds remedial measures to ensure learning continued uninterrupted.
“I want to assure all the parents of the affected schools that learning will continue and they should take their children to school as usual,” Khalif said. Khalif said that all schools in the county were operational and no school has been closed due to the insecurity in the area.
“Even Saretho and Kamuthe that were closed due to terror attacks two weeks ago have been reopened,” he said.
The two schools were temporarily closed after Al-Shabaab shot and killed four pupils at Saretho boarding primary school and a week later killed three non-local teachers in Kamuthe.
During the meeting that was also attended by KNUT officials and the other education stakeholders, he asked TSC to revoke the transfers of all the teachers who have not reported to their new stations.
The resolution which was read by pioneer Garissa Teachers College Principal Hassam Sheikh accused TSC of ‘sabotaging the education sector in the region by unilaterally transferring all non-local teachers from the area without consultation’.
“The transfers will cause unprecedented crisis in the education sector. We are playing into the hands of the Al-Shabaab by transferring all non-local teachers from the county,” Hassan said.
They asked for the immediate removal of the TSC board boss Nancy Macharia whom they claimed that under her watch, the region’s education has suffered most.
They claimed that TSC is using North Eastern as an employment ground for non-local teachers.
“We know that this is another plot to transfer all the non-local teachers and then recruit the same number to replace them. We will not allow TSC to use the three counties to create employment opportunities for non-local teachers at the expense of our own,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hulugho MCA Adow Omar said as leaders, they were perturbed by the decision by TSC to transfer all non-local teachers even from safe sub-counties.
Adow also pointed an accusing finger at the TSC boss for taking unilateral decision without involving all the relevant stakeholders.
“How do you transfer non-local teachers even without the knowledge of the County Director of Education? We read malice in the entire process,” he said.

SCHOOLS CLOSE DOWN AS MASS EXODUS OF TEACHERS IS WITTINESSED IN GARISSA COUNTY
Several schools in Garissa County were yesterday closed for lack of teachers following mass transfers over insecurity. Addressing journalists at Garissa primary school after a crisis meeting, board members from various institutions in the county said residents are entitled to a better education like any other in the country.
They said the government ought to act tough on terror.
"We have decided to close the schools and ask parents to withdraw their children until the government puts its house in order,” said Hassan Sheikh Ali, who spoke on behalf of the boards
“We want to have a united Kenya. Transferring teachers is creating divisions within this country because they are playing to the hands of the terrorists,” he added.
The remarks come just a day after the Teachers Services Commission (TSC) granted transfers to teachers who fled from their schools following attacks at Kamuthey Primary School where three of their colleagues were killed by Al Shabaab militants.
The militants have been targeting non-locals working in the region and also killed four children from Saretho primary.
Yesterday, most schools, some within Garissa township, had few teachers. For instance, at Garissa High School, more than 30 teachers have left. Garissa County Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Secretary Mr Abdirizack Hussein said three quarters of teachers have left in the county.
He accused TSC of granting the transfers unilaterally and demanded that the decision be immediately revoked. “Idle children can be enticed by extremist groups. We demand revocation of transfers of teachers,” he said. Private schools declared that the decision made by boards of management of public schools to close their schools will not affect them.

KENYA SCHOOLS ACCUSSED OF CHARGING EXTRA FEE.
Parents from Nakuru County have urged Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha to rein in on head teachers who have introduced extra levies in this year's fee structure.
They alleged that some secondary school principals, after realising the ministry was keenly monitoring them, have introduced extra charges on uniforms.
"The principals are not listing some items in the official fee structures and are issuing separate circulars with extra charges to Form One students," Ms Josephine Kerubo, a parent told the School press magazines SH15,000 Ms Kerubo, whose daughter has been admitted to a school in Rongai sub-county, said she required to pay Sh15,000 for uniforms.
"I am wondering what kind of uniforms these are. If I the uniforms from local shops it will cost me about half of that price. The school management has insisted that my daughter will not be admitted without buying the uniforms from the school," said Ms Kerubo.
Another parent said that one of the principals told parents that the government was not sincere on the amounts on the fees structure.
"What Prof George Magoha is not telling you parents is that with increased enrollment, the school infrastructures and food budget have been stretched to the limit and schools must devise ways of keeping students in school," said another parent.

INCREASED ENROLMENT
The parents' outcries come at a time when Prof Magoha has warned school heads over extra charges.
Most extra county boarding schools charge between Sh53,000 and Sh60,000 per year.
Some principals told the Nation that they were finding it difficult to keep students in school.
"The Ministry of Education is pushing for increased enrollment but it has not factored in the extra charges the schools will incur such as water bill, food and electricity," said a principal of a school in Kuresoi South.
Besides congestion, most schools do not have adequate facilities like dormitories, classrooms, dining halls, libraries and even teachers.
"We used to adequately budget for science practical materials for about 40 students without disrupting our annual budget but with a class of 50, our budget is overstretched," said another principal in Molo sub-county.

"ARM TEACHERS IN DANGER PRONE ZONES"
The Kenya National Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) Wednesday asked the government to provide militant training for teachers and arm them with guns before posting them to north-eastern and Coast regions. Secretary General Akelo Misori condemned the killing of teachers by suspected Al-Shabaab militants and asked the Interior ministry to take the teachers' security issue seriously.

SCHOOL ATTACKS
"Unarmed teachers are soft targets for terrorists as demonstrated in the Kamuthe attacks where they killed three teachers," said Mr Misori.
"Each institution in northern Kenya must be well secured by armed police officers, it is time the government trained teachers on combat and armed them with guns," said Mr Misori. Most attacks take place at night when police officers have left schools, he said. "Survivors say when police officers were informed they said they would wait until dawn to counter the attackers," said Mr Misori.
Kuppet also called on the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to review staffing in northern Kenya and deploy local teachers to the region. Mr Misori has written to Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i asking that the government deploys two police officers to each school in the region to provide security.
"Trained teachers enlisted in the disciplined forces should be redeployed to schools in the region. Such teachers should maintain their ranks in the forces and be armed," wrote Mr Misori
He asked Dr Matiang'i to station KDF personnel in the region. Kuppet National Secretary for Secondary Schools Edward Obwocha urged the TSC to stop de-localising teachers from north-eastern and instead post more to their home counties.
He said that senior teachers from the region working in other areas should be redeployed to head schools in the five counties Kuppet chairman Omboko Milemba urged the TSC to reduce the number of years teachers stay in terrorism prone areas from five to two.
"When they stay for long in those regions they become more prone to attacks, teachers' security must be taken seriously," he said. Yesterday, more than 150 teachers camped at the TSC offices seeking to be transferred from north-eastern. One of the teachers, Mr Patrick Kipruto of Bura Secondary School in Garissa County, said they have sleepless nights. "We have to be on watch, we do not know when the attackers will come," said Mr Kipruto.

SCHOOLS WARNED AGAINST FORCING PUPILS TO REPEAT CLASSES.
Isiolo Deputy County Commissioner Mohammed Maow has warned school heads against forcing or allowing learners to repeat classes over poor performance.
Mr Maow maintained that they must be moved to the next class regardless of their grades.
The administrator said forcing students to repeat classes was contributing to an uptick of dropout cases as most of the learners, especially girls, consider quitting education and end up getting married at a young age.
"School heads should not allow learners repeat any class. They should instead allow them transit to the next class irrespective of whether they pass exams or not," he said. He said his officers will be visiting all public schools in the area to examine student registers and ensure that there were no discrepancies in the number of learners at previous and subsequent classes.
While addressing journalists in Isiolo town, he also appealed to parents to comply with the directive noting that it will help in realisation of the government's 100 percent transition programme.
"Parents must ensure their children are in school and should there be issues, inform my office so that we see how the students can be helped to pursue their education," he said.
The administrator also asked parents to monitor their children while at home so that they are not lured into joining terror groups.

RISK ARREST
Meanwhile, County Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Director Alex Cheruiyot warned school heads against allowing unregistered teachers work at their institutions. He said principals and the management teams risk arrest for allowing teachers without TSC numbers to continue teaching in their schools.
"All teachers, in both primary and secondary schools, must have a TSC number. The school heads risk arrest for allowing the unregistered tutors work at their schools," said Mr Cheruiyot.
The official also advised local residents to sell their livestock and use the funds to educate their children for a better society.
"Sell your animals and invest in education and I can assure you that the returns will be much higher," he said.

ABOUT 106,000 PRIMARY TEACHERS TO START CBC TRAINING
Up to 106,000 primary school teachers will be trained countrywide on the new curriculum from today to Sunday ahead of the roll out in Grade Four.
This will bring the number of teachers so far trained since introduction of the competency-based curriculum (CBC) to 228,000.
Last April, 91,320 teachers were trained to handle grades one to three, another 68,490 were trained in August.
According to Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha, the training will ensure that teachers are well prepared.
Teacher training is one of the strategies that the ministry, in collaboration with the Teachers Service Commission, is undertaking to ensure successful implementation of the new curriculum. The government launched the new curriculum last January. The ministry, in October, directed the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) and publishers to delay the distribution of Grade 4 textbooks.

ALL-ROUNDED STUDENTS

A list of approved books was made public in mainstream media and on the KICD website to ensure that parents and teachers are well-guided.
Kenya Publishers Association chairman Lawrence Njagi assured Kenyans that the books will be delivered and publishers were already working round the clock to ensure that the distribution process is successful.
The books are for Kiswahili, English, Mathematics, Social Studies, CRE, IRE, Home Science, Agriculture, Science and Technology, Music and Arts subjects. Continuous assessment is emphasised in the new system of education as opposed to one-off examinations in the current one.
The KICD revised the syllabus to include core competences as well as contemporary issues to ensure all-round learning.
Meanwhile, tutors have asked the government to hire more teachers to ensure smooth implementation of the new system.

ADDRESS SHORTAGE
Kenya Primary Heads Association chairman Nicholas Gathemia said teacher shortage could frustrate efforts to implement the new system.
"The new curriculum is good and I believe it has been long overdue. But we must put all the necessary factors in place to make sure it works," he said.
On Wednesday, Kenya National Union of Teachers Secretary-General Wilson Sossion said the government has been rushing implementation of system.
"For a curriculum to be effective, teachers must be well-trained and adequate consultation with relevant education stakeholders must be done," he said.

JOINING FORM ONE PARENTS IN DISARRAY AS DECEMBER BREAK ABOUT TO END.
Parents are struggling with the hunt for Form One admissions for their children as anxiety grows over a proposal to increase tuition fees. Meanwhile, teachers have to grapple with looming mass transfers as schools reopen next month. With Christmas festivities drawing to a close, parents and teachers are now being forced to confront the challenges plaguing admission of Form Ones, and the roll-out of the Grade Four competency-based curriculum (CBC) in primary schools.
Protests have emerged over the just-concluded Form One selection, with some parents complaining that they did not get the schools they wanted for their children.

Ministry scholarships
Investigate why children are committing su***de
Some of the parents who spoke to The School press magazines on Wednesday said they were yet to settle on schools allocated to them, and were facing the headache of a physical hunt for better institutions in the days ahead.
And for those who were allocated the schools they wanted, high fees seemed to be an overriding worry, even as Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha directed schools to ensure strict adherence to tuition guidelines.
“We have been allocated a good school but we may not afford it, so we may have to give up the slot and get a cheaper school,” said a parent in Kakamega County.
Some parents were pe***ng their hopes on the ministry’s 9,000 scholarships, but Prof Magoha said the scheme targets extreme poverty cases in 110 sub-counties, and informal settlements in 15 urban areas.
Secondary school principals have already asked the ministry to raise fees per student by between Sh6,257 and Sh17,773 to bridge huge budget deficits in their institutions. The school heads said more than 8,000 secondary schools are facing challenges of acute underfunding, which has informed the push for higher fees. If the request is approved, fees in extra-county schools will go up by Sh17,773, pushing the annual cost to Sh80,452 up from the current Sh62,679.
It also means that parents with children in national schools will have to fork out an additional Sh15,848 per child, increasing the annual tuition fees to Sh91,646.
The current annual fee in the 103 national schools was pegged at Sh75,798. The government sends Sh22,244 annually per child in boarding or day schools to cater for tuition costs, medical cover, activity fees and maintenance and improvement. Under the new proposals, parents with children in county schools would pay Sh7,537 more, taking the fees to Sh70,216 up from the current Sh62,679. Parents with children in day schools (sub-county schools) will also be hit because in addition to lunch money, they would be required to pay an additional Sh6,257 per year.

Fees guidelines
Speaking when releasing the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exam results, Magoha said school fees guidelines must be followed. He, however, added that schools are free to engage well-wishers who are wiling and capable of chipping in additional monies to fund various projects. Teachers who spoke yesterday also expressed fears about the ongoing mass transfers, with some saying they have been separated from their families.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is moving more than 2,000 teachers and heads of institutions to new stations under its normal transfer programme that is effected every end of the year. Further, implementation of the new curriculum is gathering pace, with the roll-out set to be extended to Grade Four as authorities work to ensure effective transition from 8-4-4 to the 2-6-3-3-3 school system.
President Uhuru Kenyatta announced there would be no national examinations at the end of primary education under the new curriculum. A task force set up by Magoha to advise on the finer details of the transition is set to release its report soon. Uhuru directed that the roll-out of the Grade Four CRB starts in January next year. Magoha said the ministry has supplied the requisite Grade Four textbooks in 97 per cent of the counties. He said the remaining counties would be reached before schools open for the first term in January. On teachers’ training, Magoha said a critical mass to implement the curriculum has been reoriented.
TSC Chief Executive Nancy Macharia said a massive training exercise for 106,320 tutors ended, bringing the total number of teachers trained on CBC to 228,000.

Unending tension
However, with the unending tension between the Kenya National Union of Teachers and TSC, the Education ministry will have to rally all teachers around implementation of the CBC. The ministry will also need to get Kenyans to adopt the new proposals that will be released by the Education curriculum task force.
In three years, the first CBC cohort will transit from primary to junior secondary school in 2023. Magoha said the task force he set up to advise on curriculum reforms is in the process of finalising regulations and guidelines on the establishment of institutions under the Basic Education Framework.
The proposed regulations and guidelines from the team will be subjected to public participation before gazettement. Getting the one million pupils who sat this year’s KCPE exams to join secondary schools under the 100 per cent transition policy is also lined up among the looming challenges, with fears some girls may have already been married off. Magoha said a campaign to enrol all candidates who sat KCPE this year into Form One would start in January. Last year, about 150,000 students could not be traced under the Last Mile Form One Admission Campaign towards 100 Per cent Transition. In Mombasa, Lamu, Kwale, Samburu, Isiolo and Tana River counties, admissions were below 70 per cent. The ministry is facing an uphill task on transition that will require concerted efforts from regional administrations, parents and teachers. Magoha already asked all primary school headteachers to develop an inventory of the schools to which their 2019 candidates were placed, and liaise with all relevant agencies and institutions to ensure they are enrolled in Form One. And in high schools, creating additional spaces to accommodate the huge number of candidates will be a daunting task.

EGERTON UNIVERSITY TO RAISE 200M FROM THE RECENT UNREST.
The Ministry of Education has been petitioned to stop Egerton University from fining its students Sh16,862 for property destroyed during a strike on December 4.
Kenya Parents Association says it is not clear how the university arrived at the figure, which will see the university raise over Sh200 million if each of the 13,700 students is surcharged.
KPA, through its chairperson Nicholas Maiyo, asked the Ministry of Education to intervene, saying it was unfair to surcharge students and parents such a high amount.
“There is hue and cry from parents of Egerton University over the impunity which the university has used to surcharge the students Sh16,832 for the strike that happened recently,” stated Maiyo in a letter dated December 22.
Mr Maiyo said the university must give a breakdown and valuation to justify the payment.
The chairperson claims it is in public domain that the university was in a financial crisis and asked whether it was planning to use the punitive fees to offset some of its debts.
“We are aware that the university’s financial situation is in the red. Is the university using the damages fee to pay the Sh856 million owed to KRA in taxes,” Maiyo asked.
“We demand that the payment of the damages be stopped forthwith until a proper justification is given,” he stated in the letter.
The university, in an advertisement placed in the dailies last week, said the surcharge will be used towards the repair, replacement, and restoration of damaged property at the institution.
More than 13,700 students at Egerton’s main campus in Njoro except those with disability are required to pay the fine. The university said the surcharge must be paid not later than January 8, 2020.
As a move to ensure every student pays the amount, each student will be required to register and clear their fees and ensure they present exam cards to their respective chair of departments.
Those who will fail to register on reporting will be exempted from sitting their end of semester examinations and deferred to the next academic year.
However, students have cited malice by the university administration for surcharging them a lot of money.

KCSE 2019 RESULTS BREAKDOWN IN NUMBERS.
The Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha released the 2019 Form Four national exam results Wednesday.
Prof Magoha announced the outcome to the public after meeting and briefing President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House in Nairobi.

Here are some important numbers:

697,222 - Candidates sat the examination

37,018 – More candidates sat the examination this year compared to last year

341,440 - Girls who sat the examination

355,782 - Boys who sat the examination

1,309 - Candidates whose results were cancelled

125,746 - Candidates with C+, set to join universities

1,499 - Special needs candidate who sat the examination

627 - Candidates who scored A

5,796 - Candidates who scored A-

13,366 - Candidates who scored B+

24,478 - Candidates who scored B

35,340 - Candidates who scored B-