The government is set to abolish boarding primary schools in a new proposed education curriculum to be rolled out beginning January, 2019.
A taskforce appointed by the Ministry of Education proposed the introduction of a new education system christened 2-6-3-3-3 to replace the current 8-4-4 curriculum.
In its findings, the team chaired by former Moi University Vice-Chancellor Laban Ayiro established that boarding schools are congested and expensive and recommended they be abolished.
The committee also attributed the wave of indiscipline among students to limited contact with parents due to long spells in boarding schools.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Wilson Sossion and other stakeholders have thrown their weight behind the move, saying that it will allow parents to spend more time with their children.
“Banning boarding schools in primary learning is long overdue. Parents do not spend enough time with their children. As a union, we have strongly proposed that this be done, and even at the National Assembly level we want this legislation brought,” says Sossion.
In the 2-6-3-3-3 system, learners will take two years in the pre-primary stage, six years of primary education, three years in junior Secondary School, three in senior Secondary level and a further three years of tertiary education.
Where are the government…
Where are the government boarding primary schools in Kenya? Its good to have options in education, and the private sector has done a great job on this. The CS should start her model day schools, and also let the private sector develop its models.
I support this move even if…
I support this move even if l do not know what tertiary education is. I went to boarding school from class four and it distanced me from my family big time. The first years I used to cry my my eyes dry-homesickness. I swore none of my kids would go to boarding schools even secondary.
If its abolishing boarding…
If its abolishing boarding in primary schools ido support. But when it comes to secondary schools I don’t support because that will denied children getting the schools of their choice, a child from siaya aiming to join alliance, starehe,lenana,or mangu kenyahigh pangani,precious blood cannot travel to on daily basis prompting the parents to rent a house near the schools, this will give many young kid’s freedom to engage in many bad things will spoil Kenya’s future completely, again with our traffic jamms commuting will need more vehicles to carry the students to schools which will create more jamms on roads, children will reach late in schools, which will interfere with learning, children will go to school drunk, dancing hangovers, teachers will demand for better pay due yo the hectic hostilities from the students
Whether the Kenyan school…
Whether the Kenyan school system likes it or not: BOARDING Boys???or Girl???schools are NOT a good Nourishing place for a HETEROSEXUAL Kenya: So 1st abolish Catholic Boys and Girls schools; then all other Non-mixed schools. Let MIXED Boarding Schools remain (for Boys and Girls to Grow up knowing how to Co-Excist in a Normal way before they Get married). Meanwhile: Scrapping Boarding schools just like that (to me) is a Tall order.
@Guest1 boarding schools are…
@Guest1 boarding schools are not the right place for ALL kids of a tender age. Stop injecting heterosexual(or not) topic into this discussion. We are talking
of kids 9 years or less to 14 years old. The rest of your thoughts really make sense which is surprising to me. I still think you need to donate your brain for research because you are one of a kind. Further exploration is required.
The BIBLE says: Train your …
The BIBLE says: Train your (tender) Child in the (proper) way it should go; and it shall NOT depart from it when it’s Grown up. Boys or Girls schools (young or old/ Boarding or Day) cannot do it for Parents. Nope!
Agree with you 100%. Some of…
Agree with you 100%. Some of @guest1 are way off base. Should also lay off his matusi.
But boarding schools have…
But boarding schools have existed without these incidences of indispline,such as primary schools burning property. Could this be a case of their needs not being met?And could this largely be a result of moral decadence in th ne society?In that case their is not much parents could do that the school is not doing. Time to collectively re evaluate where we went off the track,and take corrective measures otherwise these problems are not going away.Its not a parental problem but societal.There are many good parents out there,but in my opinion,the bad ones out number them.My two cents.
When I was growing up kids…
When I was growing up kids went to boarding school at 9 years and now that I know better, this may not have been the best choice. These boarding school were good for the kids whose home environment may not have been conducive to learning. Today, every Tom dick and Harry can’t wait to send their kids away ili wakae starehe thus absconding parental duties. I think societal rot begins from the nuclear family(being the basic social unit) spreading outwards to the community and the Nation. Parents need to be responsible of their kids not the teachers. Teachers are there to teach not raise other peoples children.
@ Mugikuyu,as you stated…
@ Mugikuyu,as you stated,some parents cannot wait to send their kids away… thus absconding parental duties.Right there lies a big problem.Like I said there are good parents out there,but the bad ones out number them.Just because you feed, cloth and pay their school fees dont not mean that now you are agood parent. Most importantly you have to inculcate discipline,respect,love good morals,and hard work.
If you send abad kid to school, you are transfering the problem from your house to the school.Like you said, teacher are there to teach…
Spot on!?
Spot on!?
@ guest 1 see we can…
@ guest 1 see we can sometimes agree on what is right.
really 2-6-3-3-3
pre…
really 2-6-3-3-3
pre-primary stage, six years of primary education, three years in junior Secondary School, three in senior Secondary level and a further three years of tertiary education. too many institutions of learning from 3 to six…we had primary secondary then university/college before implementing do a thorough research. it might not work in Kenya
Now you are talking Amina!…
Now you are talking Amina! boarding schools have become a nursery of crimes . at my time 40 years ago there was discipline .
Wachini upuzi. Let the…
Wachini upuzi. Let the parents decide whether they want to take their children to boarding school or not. If you can afford to pay for it why not.
That is where the are…
That is where the are inducted into immoral behaviours, i.e substance misuse, corruption of nipe in Kupe, under age sex na kathalika. I am not against it as long as it’s well run with discipline at the core. Lakini in the Kenya it is today, watoto hawana heshima and this comes from the parents too. When we have the Akothe’s of this world exchanging obscenities with their child and call that the new norm….well, how is such a child to react in the face of discipline demanded by other adults, e.g teachers?
@ Sukari if i understand you…
@ Sukari if i understand you correctly,you are starting that-good kids meet bad kids who make them leave their good habits?
The problem is not boarding…
The problem is not boarding schools. The problem is discipline. Deal with the problems from it roots. Being is day school or boarding school means nothing if the kids do not have discipline.
The government should…
The government should conduct a good research to inform the change in education system. I went through Kenyan education system and now I have taught in a high school in USA, I can tell you the issue of indiscipline is all time high here in US where 99% of schools are day. Rarely do you find a boarding school here but you have heard of school shootings, drugs and of 60% drop out levels. Kids come in class with phones and never listen to teachers. When I am standing in a US classroom I remember the days of corporal punishment in nostalgia. Sorry I am old school but I can tell you nothing works better than the cane. Used sparingly and responsibly, corporal punishment could easily solve some of these perennial problems in tertiary education.
@Moses, you make a lot of…
@Moses, you make a lot of sense….with good reference. Na hio ni shadow….most USA kids are picked and dropped by their parents…..Kenya, kids will be navigating thro’ all kinds of evil, exposure proper….drug-dealers, sex predators, peer-pressure within and without with lots of decision to make within the time one left home and is back.
Kenyan parent, burdened with taxes that NEVER give back what they are supposed to…..EDUCATION being one of them….corruption that reaches too far into the meager incomes earned by 80% of these parents etc etc leaves an overly stretched parent with less time on their hands — equals disaster!
Huwezi kuamka siku moja na…
Huwezi kuamka siku moja na kuamua kufanya jambo ambalo hujalifikiria au kuamua matokeo yake hasa kwenye siku za usoni (in thelong run).
Watu wanaomlinda rais wa Marekani (secret service) huanza mapema kuhakikisha usalama wa rais atakaposafiri kwa kufuata taratibu hizi.
1. Planning
2. Preparation
3. Delivery
Je, Amina amepanga kutosha au kujitayarisha ipasavyo au ameamua tu kusema, “watoto wasilale shuleni” bila kufuata taratibu ambayo haitaleta mambo ya ghafula na kuigutua elimu ya wanafunzi mwakani?
Maxiley, I think Kenya…
Maxiley, I think Kenya answered your question unwittingly. More to the point, peer pressure is a reality and it gnaws at all corners of society. Good versus bad, inadequate parenting versus….It’s a no brainer, really.
@ sukari,does peer pressure…
@ sukari,does peer pressure always have to come from the “bad side”.Why cannot the good kids give peer pressure to the bad kids…In other words pressing the good behavior unto them.That’s what Iam questioning. We also have to agree despite good parenting kids can turn in to “devils”.
I never liked boarding…
I never liked boarding school despite joining one later in form 1. I struggled with homesickness, even when i was in Form 6. Felt much better in college. Most kids turned out ok then in those early years. I hear it is now another world with some out there experiences. Decided not to send my kids to any at a younger age. I just used the option as a small threat to make my son to wake up, lol. Was a sacrifice due to the hectic Nairobi life with school going kids & childcare. Now that i know more, i realize these are a child’s formative years where parental guidance, provision, nurturing, assurance, & emotional support are important to personality development. However, as much as i think abolishing boarding schools may be good, i still wonder if it can work in Kenya given that schools are not concentrated locally to accommodate day scholars. All the best planners!
Good point Lici, these…
Good point Lici, these boarding schools only bred Kenyans with PSTD(Post traumatic stress disorder). Student were mentally traumatized and that’s why our professionals are less competitive compared to other countries.(Have you ever compared roads constructed by china and Kenya? It’s like death and sleep theory). If boarding schools are eradicated, that money need to be channeled to other student activities like school buses, boys/girls clubs, counselling etc. But the way I know Kenya..that money will go into MP,s pockets.
Necessary to achieve “access…
Necessary to achieve “access to quality education for all” and stem out the teaching-to-the-exam techniques employed by most of those schools.
The government is doing…
The government is doing everything possible to kill the generation. I strongly and perpendicularly differ with this foolish move. No child has ever been forced to join boarding school, it is always an individual choice since there are both daycase and boarding schools. If you reason so, what of those children with unstable parentage and homes who only benefit from boarding scholarships. Compare the results of boarding schools and day schools. Why is it that private schools are ever leading in national exams. Because of the fooling and frustrating rules set by the blind ministry. They then go ahead covering their mess by changing the whole examination and education system. Last year they set below standard exams to have high scores! What a shame!
Which weed are our…
Which weed are our educational stakeholders are using nowadays. don’t destroy our future for your personal greed.
Ala!so kila MTU asomee kwao,…
Ala!so kila MTU asomee kwao, tribalism comes in like this.a child in northeastern will be forced to traverse the hot and rough terrain to get to a distant school,
Those that are called national schools will be left for the kids nearby hence bringing about discrimination,look,how many schools have laptops or even computer programmes in school?will a child in the remotest part of the so called marginalized zones get access to better education which is always got at schools like mang’oi,alliance etc?
Some things are Impossible
Bring back the system where a child would be taught and get disciplined by their teachers,corporal punishment will bring back the lost glory in schools.
If I had an answer to that…
If I had an answer to that question Maxwell, I would be a millionaire by now. I don’t know why the good peer pressure does not overtake the negative, but then again, I have never worked out why Eve never resisted the forbidden fruit despite the riches surrounding her… In a nutshell Maxwell, you are asking me questions and answering them yourself bro! Yawn!…topic becoming a little stale! Sorry, don’t mean to be rude, just never been good at debating the obvious….
Dada mwislamu Amina. Naona…
Dada mwislamu Amina. Naona una uwezo ambao unaweza kupiga marufuku shule za bweni (boarding school) Kenya mara moja. Tafadhali piga marufuku ufundishaji wa somo la dini katika shule zote za Kenya kuanzia Januari, mwaka ujao na badala yake utilie mkazo (emphasize) masomo ya sayansi, ufundi, na teknolojia.
something like that will…
something like that will interfere with learning programmes of mostly big private schools, mototo akiwa mbali na wazazi anajipa hekima zaidi,hata wazazi wata hisi uchungu kwa ma’Amina.
they should all go since…
they should all go since where this formal education came from this is not the practice, children stay home and only leave when going to collage. they were started in this part of the world by missionaries because they wanted us to get an education yet we didn’t have enough schools and they were far apart.
I may agree with some of the…
I may agree with some of the comments but no one is touching on the issue of too many rights given to children by the Govt which are making them feel as if they are free to do anything they feel like.
there is something sinister…
there is something sinister in this move. I think the ministry is frustrated.there are questions they cannot answer.why is it that private Schools are always above par and have limited resources.how many public schools are boarding ? the ministry should not try to wittingly to finish private schools. how many parents can very their children to and fro to their school of choice.i think there are no private children.Amb.Amina please have a second thought