By Patrick Beja

Over 10,000 school head teachers have converged in Mombasa for their annual meeting amid many challenges facing the Free Primary Education programme. Schools face an acute shortage of qualified teachers, while worsening hunger due to high food prices is also affecting learning in schools, leading to a high rate of absenteeism among pupils.

Other issues dominating the minds of the primary school head teachers as they begin their meetings today include the low funding levels behind a shortage of learning materials, and low morale among teachers due to poor pay. Most schools have not bought learning materials, including books, for the last three years. Class sizes doubled after FPE often cited as a key legacy of President Kibaki's term in office â€" was launched in 2003, but resources provided for the same have never fully met demand.

Treasury's allocation to the FPE programme has remained the same since 2003 when it was launched. This has also affected schools' participation in drama and other co-curricular activities. Despite the fact that on average up to 75 per cent of the Government's social sector spending and 40 per cent of its recurrent budget goes to education, the money is barely enough to buy learning material and hire enough teachers. Things got worse after some donors, including Britain, pulled out of the FPE programme due to corruption. Education Minister Sam Ongeri has faced calls for his resignation or sacking after allegations that Sh4.2 billion of FPE funds went missing under his watch.

Heavily criticised

The 8:4:4 curriculum is also under review with many feeling it is out of tune with the needs of the country under the Vision 2030 development blueprint. The system has been heavily criticised for overloading pupils and not giving them enough time to participate in co-curricular activities.

It was initially designed to make learning more practical but was implemented in a hurry, which affected its quality. Among the proposals is that national examinations for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education be abolished, and the Kenya National Examinations Council be restructured to reflect new realities. The Kenya Primary School Heads Association (Kepsha) national chairman Joseph Karuga said on arrival in Mombasa on Sunday they would discuss the issue of child friendly schools and reforms at weeklong conference.

Karuga said at the top of the agenda will include their proposals towards aligning Teachers Service Commission to the new Constitution through the TSC Bill. "We want to take stock on how best to make learning better in Kenyans schools and whether the changes are conforming to the Milleniun Development Goals." He said. "We are concerned with issues of quality and standards of learning and we demand synchrony between TSC and the quality assurance departments at the Ministry of Education to avoid conflicts."

He said teachers would interrogate the curriculum and how best it can help identify hone skills and talents of learning at an early age and guide their careers. The teachers started arriving from various parts of the country for the conference that formally begins today. Mombasa came alive as several buses ferried in the school heads on Sunday for the conference.

"Regardless of whether the education system is changed or not, we want a curriculum which is not so much examination oriented but which brings out the best in learners," Karuga said.

"We are deeply concerned about the raging drought in the country because children cannot learn on empty stomach. The drought undermines efforts to promote child friendly schools in the country," Karuga said.

Resolutions

The association will include the challenges of drought to schools in its resolutions after the meeting, he said. The bureaucracy in the management of education is also to blame as field education officers are not fully empowered and officers from Jogoo House spend funds meant for education programmes doing what the former are supposed to do, according to a study by the Institute for Policy Analysis and Research.

Meanwhile, Israel has pledged to boost Kenya's education through teacher training. Israel's deputy ambassador to Kenya, Maor Elbaz said the focus areas are early childhood, teacher training, technologies in education, special education, teacher training for early childhood, principals, teachers and educational inspectors training for, adult education and training teachers in indigenous areas.

Elbaz who was flanked by Education assistant minister Calista Mwatela and Karuga spoke at Sheikh Zayed Children Welfare Centre, venue of the Kepsha conference. He said Israel would this year mount a professional development for in-service teachers and innovative methods for an integrative approach in teacher training in Israel that was open to Kenyan teachers.

"I encourage you to apply for these courses. It is important to also state that the same courses can be conducted locally at your centres on your request," he told the excited head teachers. He commended Kenya for introducing FPE saying though it faces hurdles, it is a noble motive. "Education, especially at the basic level that you are involved in, is the fundamental tool of livelihood," the envoy said.

Teacher shortage

Mwatela urged head teachers to treat the challenge of teacher shortage in the country as an opportunity to turn round the education system through innovative approaches. "Israel has faced many challenges over the years, including wars, but has success stories because it turned the hurdles into opportunities," Mwatela said.

Karuga said the school heads would also follow up the matter by compiling a report on the number of schools and pupils severely hit by the drought in the country. The heads would also discuss education reforms under the new constitution in a bid to make their inputs to an education taskforce. They were also concerned about girl child pregnancies particularly in the rural areas.

Karuga said the mix up of adult learners with young children should be looked into as it may be contributing to negative behaviour of the young learners particularly girls. "Adult learning is good, but it is better to be done separately," he said. Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka is expected to formally open the conference on Tuesday. Education PS Prof James ole Kiyapi and Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta are also scheduled to attend.