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Education News Highlights Today
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🖊️##Taming arbitrary purchases of school buses

Principals need written approval from CS before getting hire purchase and bank loans.

Schools should pool cash and buy one bus

Education CS Ezekiel Machogu has put out a fiat in which school principals have to seek his approval before buying a bus.

It is understandable that schools find it convenient to manage their own trips when they have a bus at their disposal.

But it is an investment in which school administrators apply pressure on parents and students to cough up the cash even when buying a bus is no priority.

In the era of tightening belts on account of extremely harsh economic times, Machogu’s order might, at face value, look draconian.

But the decision makes lots of economic sense.
Parents are already reeling from heavy fees and expensive books.

It would make great sense if schools can pool cash and buy one bus that can be used in turns.

What is the need of a bus that is insured at exorbitant sums spending months under a shed in the school compound when there are no trips or when schools are on recess?

The school incurs cost paying a driver who spends 90 days a year away from work when schools are closed.

Machogu’s order should tame the endless fundraisers parents have to endure in the name of acquiring school buses.
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🖊️##Task force wants five years to phase out 8-4-4 system

The task force looking into the education system now wants the country to have a five-year transition period to phase out the 8-4-4 system.

During the five-year training period, the government shall have addressed the issues of teachers preparation, curriculum changes, parental responsibility and required infrastructure.

According to the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform, within that period, the country would have developed adequate infrastructure for the new education system.

In a preliminary report scheduled to be presented to President William Ruto any time soon, the task force also wants the current Grade 6 pupils scheduled to sit for their national Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) to be hosted in their present primary schools.

JSS will remain hosted in existing primary schools for a two-year period after which the task force would have made a permanent decision on where it would specifically be domiciled.

The Prof Raphael Munavu led task force wants the structure changed from the original proposed 2-6-3-3-3 structure to 2-6-2-4-3 .

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will also be required to immediately identify primary school teachers who will undergo a month training on how to manage Grade 7 pupils next year.
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🖊️##Don’t exchange girls for chicken, warns Jumwa

The Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Gender and Affirmative Action, Aisha Jumwa, has pledged to fight gender-based violence in Kenya, especially involving young school girls.

She warned chiefs and their assistants to desist from solving cases of early pregnancies and forced marriages in kangaroo courts, saying it was wrong to “exchange the virginity of our girls with chicken and goats.”
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🖊️##ublic Notice on change of KMTC 91St GRADUATION CEREMONY date:

“We are pleased to inform you that the 91st Graduation Ceremony initially scheduled to take place on Thursday, December 1, 2022, virtually, has now been moved to Friday, December 2, 2022.

The virtual ceremony will be streamed live from the KMTC Graduation Square, Nairobi, starting at 10.00 A.M.

In line with this, the virtual rehearsals will now take place on Thursday, December 1, 2022, starting at 10:00 am.
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🖊️##KNEC puts exam cheats on notice; security on high alert

The state has warned of stern action against examination fraud.

KNEC said any candidates, invigilators, supervisors or centre managers will bear personal responsibility in case of any exam fraud.

The examinations body said told candidates that the will have their results cancelled if found culpable of any multi-practices.

“Every year, a few candidates get their examinations cancelled because of cheating, it is sad for a student to miss their results after studying for several years,” KNEC said in a statement.

Over 2.5 million candidates will sit exams starting Monday for both the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) and Kenya Certificate of Primary Education.

KNEC’s Chief Executive David Njengere assured the learners that the exams will be fair and everyone will score fairly.
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🖊️##Puzzle of 30 churches built on ‘grabbed’ school land

More than 30 churches are being investigated for setting up structures on 14 acres of school land in Ngelelya, Ithanga/Kakuzi sub-county.

Some of the Christian churches are suspected by security agencies of preaching cultism.

“The absurdity is that some of these churches are less than 20 metres apart and they all worship on Sundays. You can imagine the noise, as all have public address systems,” said area Deputy County Commissioner Angela Makau.
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🖊️##Low pension savings by Kenyans signal old-age poverty crisis

About 89.4 percent of Kenyan adults lack a pension scheme, setting the stage for a rise in old-age poverty and forced work.

A survey part-conducted by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) indicates that only 10.6 percent of Kenyans belong to a pension scheme amid the push from the State to grow retirement savings.

This points to a possible deepening of old-age poverty, which in itself has significant social implications in a country where the traditional patterns of the young caring for the old are changing.
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🖊️##Hustler’s Fund Loans- ‘Give priority to Jobless Graduates’

Kitale National Polytechnic Chief Principal John Otieno Akollah has called on the National Government to consider students who have qualified from the Technical Training Education for the hustlers’ fund as a startup kit.

Speaking during the launch of a 51 seater bus for students and a 14 van for the staff, Mr. Otieno applauded the establishment of the hustler funds kitty, saying if disbursed efficiently it would help the qualified students from the TVET institutions create job opportunities for themselves.
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🖊️##Kenyan Economy Posts a 5% Growth

The economy has continued posting a strong performance with the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data for the second quarter of 2022 indicating real GDP growth of 5.2 percent.

The performance reflects robust activity in transport and storage, wholesale and retail trade, information and communication, real estate, and financial and insurance.

Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor Dr. Patrick Njoroge who is also chairman of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said that the economy is expected to remain strong in the last quarter of 2022, supported by the services sector despite subdued performance in agriculture and weaker global growth.
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🖊️##Machakos university students protest increased insecurity

Machakos University students have demonstrated citing insecurity in their area of residence.
The students said their colleagues have in the past been attacked by criminals.
They said some of the affected areas were Kathemboni, Chatia and Eastleigh estates.
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~Newsbyte.