Governors reject Presidential Working Party education reforms

The Council of Governors (CoG) has strongly opposed the recommendations of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms.

According to CoG’s Education Committee, the said recommendations — especially on the pre-primary education — are unacceptable and claw back on the gains of devolution.

Among the recommendations the governors are opposed to is the establishment of a comprehensive school system where all levels of learning are headed by one head of institution.

This proposal, CoG says, does not put into consideration the devolved education functions assigned to county governments by the Constitution.

Governors attend a consultative meeting to discuss the implications of the recommendations of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms.

Reversing gains of devolution

“We not that there is no accountability framework provided for the proposed Head of Institutions to the counties regarding the management of pre-primary schools,” the council says.

CoG underscores that county governments have made tremendous efforts towards transforming the pre-primary education.

“Currently, county governments are managing approximately 30,400 pre-primary schools, have employed over 54,000 pre-primary teachers and over 2.3 million children are accessing pre-primary education across the counties,” a statement from the CoG revealing the details of Monday, January 10 consultative meeting insists.

Hiring pre-primary teachers

The governors are also opposed to the recommendation that the Ministry of Education, Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and CoG should develop an intergovernmental agreement for hiring and remuneration of pre-primary teachers.

The Presidential Working Party also proposes the amendment of the Basic Education Act to have the County Commissioner head the County Education Board, with governors insisting that the move will be a clear reverse gear to the gains of devolution that made ECDE a fully devolved function.

The county bosses also argue that hiring of pre-primary teachers is a preserve of the county governments as underscored in the 2016 High Court ruling in the case of KNUT vs. The Attorney General and 4 others.

CoG: We reject in entirety

The CoG has conclusively rejected the recommendations in entirety, arguing that they undermine the basic structure and framework of the Constitution.

“The Council of Governors hereby withdraws its participation from any process that seeks to legislate the recommendations contained in the report. This includes the proposed meeting called by Inter-Governmental Relations Technical Committee scheduled for 16th January, 2024.

In the end, the governors insist that county governments will continue to manage both the institutions and human resources for pre-primary education, as assigned by the Constitution.