Delocalised teachers, and not only principals, will bridge inequalities

As the reality of inequalities in the 2019 KCSE examination decompose, emitting the putrid smell of the bandaged injustices in our education system, the systematic marginalisation of the sub-county and county schools is not to be ignored any longer.

The gaps between public schools — national, extra-county, county and sub-county — in terms of material and human institutional infrastructures of curriculum delivery reeks.

To claim our education system is not free from injustice, or rather, that our systems are a demonstration of the effects of those injustices, has metamorphosed into century truisms.

A Pacemaker International analysis shows 61 per cent of candidates from sub-county schools, the majority (51 per cent) in the exam, scored the lowest grade, E.

The oft-praised national schools contributed a paltry four per cent of the candidates but just one per cent of them scored E.

Simply, a sub-county student is 60 times more likely than a national school one to score E. A similar trend is evident between county and extra-county schools.

In a bid to reawaken the potential in the technical and vocational institutions, the education authorities have downplayed the hype for university qualification.

But does it not stink to high heaven that a whole 91 per cent of students from sub-county schools did not qualify for the summit of study?

The concept of justice in education is complex but Reich and Allen, while compiling some of the most prolific essays on the topics education, justice and democracy, simplify it thus:

“Have we succeeded in creating the kind of education that attenuates the well-documented relationship between inherited socioeconomic position and life outcome, and can we do it without levelling but instead raising the education achievements and making the highest peaks accessible to students from all range of social backgrounds?”

Even with the least level of honesty, our response cannot be in the affirmative.

Even worse, transferring a teacher from a national to a sub-county school is ‘demotion’, or vice-versa, and teachers of renowned experience, abilities and certification can only be found in national and extra-county schools.

But you would not want to blame the teacher. Their professional (underdevelopment) experiences, not training, have made teachers for certain levels of schools and not students.

There are several policies with micromanaged implementation strategies.

Nemis took some of the low-achieving pupils to national and extra-county schools and their magical improvement mesmerised the nation.

And now, there is the contentious delocalisation — and, oh, the celebrated promotion of headteachers.

Congratulations, but you can only do so much with the level of teacher quality inequalities you will find in that sub-county school.

Odhiambo Kaumah, TSC-registered teacher, poet and SDG 4 youth advocate.