Schools reopen as education area apparatus up for boundless changes

As schools re-open on Monday, Education ministry officials are mulling over key changes across the sector, right from primary to university level.Education permanent secretary Prof James ole Kiyiapi notes that aligning the education system with the new Constitution is perhaps the biggest task at hand.The Constitution strongly roots for devolution which effectively scraps the provincial and district administrative structures under which the country’s education management rests.

Plans are already in place and the terms of reference for the members of a task force set to steer the process of the alignment have been drawn.The team, to be headed by the PS and composed of technocrats, will convene a series of regional consultations throughout the year to collate views on various aspects of the education system to be introduced.It will help the country adopt a model of educational management – by studying devolved systems that have worked elsewhere as that of America – and discussing their proposals at a national conference ultimately.The team will re-look at the Education Act, Sessional papers and reports of various education commissions, statutes and relevant policies that inform the sector at various levels.

The second stage will involve consultation with stakeholders and the third will be to formulate policy and legal frameworks,explains the PS.The policy and legal frameworks should be in place by next June,” he had told provincial and district education officers earlier.Provincial and district schools will cease to exist when the system is completely aligned and, instead, there will only be two categories of schools public and private.Additionally, Prof Kiyiapi notes that two model schools will be built in each constituency as part of devolution.The schools one for boys and the other for girls will be equivalent to the current national schools and will admit students from all over the country on a designated basis.The Kenya National Examinations Council has also announced changes in the way candidates register for their final tests at both primary and secondary school. The year 2011 will be the first time such students will be required to register online.At the same time, the Teachers Service Commission will also be putting in place new governance structures as it gears up towards autonomy since it has been elevated to a constitutional commission.