KERICHO, Kenya Feb 24 – Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha has appealed to the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) to suspend the call to their members to strike over salary increment and allow the students in the country to sit for their national examinations.
The Education CS pleaded with the Union who had issued a strike notice terming it untimely as the national examination officially started on Monday March 7, 2022. This, he said, would disrupt the smooth progression of the exams.
The CS encouraged the Teachers Service Commission Secretary Dr. Nancy Macharia and the TSC board to continue to engage with the Union negotiating in a bid to resolve the strike.
Kuppet Secretary General Akello Misori has given TSC seven days to reopen fresh salary negotiations after the expiry of 21 days strike notice they had given TSC elapsed without receiving substantive communication from the TSC. Misori said that failure to reopen the talks will see teachers take industrial action over failed salary review.
Speaking today at Poiywek secondary school in Ainamoi sub-County in Kericho County where he commissioned one of the completed Competency Based curriculum (CBC) classroom, Prof Magoha said that the government through the education ministry had constructed 2300 classrooms across the Country out of these they had commissioned 560 CBC Classrooms. He said another 2000 classrooms are at roofing level across the Country.
Magoha who was accompanied by area County Director of Education (CDE) Ms Rose Sagara, the Ainamoi Sub County Commissioner Mr Steve Orinde, called on Kericho team to speed up the construction of the CBC classrooms saying that Kuria East in Migori County and Etago in Kisii County was at 100 percent completion rate. He said several Sub Counties in the country were at 99 percent rate of completion.
He said that the construction of the classrooms would continue for the next one week and would stop temporarily in all the examination centres as no-go zones for anyone who is not directly engaged in the national examinations.
The Education CS said they would start phase two of the construction immediately the national examinations end in April and by the end of July over 10,000 classrooms would have been completed as directed by the president.
According to Ms Sagara a total of 199 secondary schools were selected to host junior secondary schools with a total allocation of 312 classrooms, under phase one a total of 142 Secondary schools were allocated one classroom each, out of 142 classrooms six are ready for commissioning, 33 are at roofing level, 43 at finishing level, 56 at walling level, with only 4 at slab level. The classrooms are spread across six sub-counties. The average construction rate is at 73.27 percent as at yesterday.
