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Value of headteachers’ conferences questioned

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Head teachers take a break from conference deliberations last year. Various associations have criticised the annual meetings, saying they hardly contribute to improving quality of education. File

The annual headteachers’ conference for principals of secondary schools is increasingly coming under scrutiny due to its high costs and lack of a mechanism to integrate its resolutions into the education policy.

The Coast Province Kenya National Parents Association coordinator Richard Mwangeka said headteachers should adopt a less costly approach to address concerns over their profession and the education sector in general.

“Such forums are supposed to bring out visible outcomes. Although the public financially supports the forum, the same issues are discussed year after year,” Mr Mwangeka said.

The meeting is organised by the Kenya Secondary School Head Teachers Association, which was formed in the late 1960s to provide professional advice. It now has 7,000 members drawn from both public and private secondary schools.

However, although it receives funding from the public through schools, it is not legally recognised by the government as a policy-making organ.

The chairman of the association, Mr Cleophas Tirop, admitted that the education sector, with its various components, lacks legally recognised professional bodies.

Each headteacher contributes Sh500 every month through a check-off system to the association’s national office. At the provincial level, each student contributes Sh40 to the association according to Karilus Umija, chairman of the association’s Nyanza chapter.

The contributions made by the members are not sufficient to cater for the operations of the association which hosts 3 conferences – district, provincial and national – for members every year.

But it is the cost of catering for the expenses of the head teachers at the conference that the parents are opposing.

The contribution from over 7,000 head teachers to the national office supports the annual conference, the national vice treasurer of the association Mr Julius Ngondo said.

Although he could not give the actual amount the association spent at this year’s forum held in Mombasa, at least Sh7 million was spent during the event.

The conference, due to its capacity to attract a huge number of delegates gets sponsorship from other stakeholders.

The schools cater for the accommodation and the travel expenses of the teachers, which depends on the institution’s capacity, Ngondo said. Just how significant the schools’ contribution is to participation in the conference can be demonstrated by the number of delegates from the North Eastern province who attended the conference this year.

Although there are 65 headteachers in the province, only 20 managed to attend the conference due to lack of money as a result of the delays in government disbursement of free secondary education cash as well as incapacity due to prolonged drought and delay in paying second term fees, Ibrahim Maalim, the chairman of the North Eastern chapter said.

A source conversant with the conference planning who did not want his name mentioned due to the sensitivity of the matter said that headteachers are paid daily allowances based on their job-group and the distances to the conference. The teachers normally fuel a bus from one of the schools and pay the driver.

For instance, a head teacher in Job Group M travelling from Kaloleni in Coast Province is entitled to Sh4,000 per day during the one week conference that runs from Monday to Friday. Job Group M from Kisumu daily allowances range between Sh7,000 to Sh 10,000 per day.

Delegates from North Eastern receive Sh4,500 – Sh6,000 depending on what the school can pay, Maalim said. The allowances are negotiated between the District Education Officers (DEOs) and principals within their jurisdiction. Since 2008, the annual conference has been held in Mombasa.

This year, headteachers from Mombasa held their conference in Nakuru raising suspicions that the venues are selected to attract higher allowances.

Before the national conference, headteachers hold conferences at the district and provincial level every year. Each of the headteachers pockets at least Sh5, 000 daily allowances translating to at least Sh75, 000 if they attend all the three conferences.

Each of the conferences runs for five days. Speakers at the conference also draw allowances ranging from Sh10, 000 to Sh30, 000 with travel expenses catered for.

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