Government Tightens Regulation of Alternative Schools

Education SC Fred Matiangi.

In what could create a complex environment for informal schools to operate in, the government has moved to tighten regulation of the sector. The move follows recent agitations by leaders of teachers’ unions KNUT and KUPPET that informal schools, also known as alternative schools, were diluting the quality of education in the country.

Alternative schools are identified with low tuition fees requirement and they claim to offset the shortage of formal learning institutions, especially in the low income urban areas.

Whether the alternative schools are in business for profits or they back government education efforts, a new and perhaps more complicated operating environment awaits them. The new informal education guidelines, recently unveiled by Education CS, Fred Matiang’i, require all existing alternative schools to register a fresh with the Ministry of Education, a process that could see fresh demands surface and possibly lead to deregistration of some schools.

30% of teachers to be professionals
The government has also issued several other fresh requirements for informal schools with hopes that the measures would help boost the quality of. Among other things, at least 30% of the teaching staff in alternative schools must be trained teachers. Those teachers must also be registered with teachers’ unions of their choice. Where untrained teachers are engaged, the government requires informal schools to employee those who have KCSE mean grade of at least C (Plain).

Complex question
The government claims that poor regulation of information schools over the years has watered down the quality of education in the country. However, it is difficult to explain how pupils in the alternative schools perform better in national examinations than their counterparts in the closely monitored public schools.
Critics of tighter regulation of alternative schools claim that KNUT and KUPPET seem to be more interested in expanding their dues collection rather than strengthening the quality of education. There are speculations that employers in the informal education sector would be required to remit union dues for their teachers to KNUT or KUPPET depending on the union the teachers register through.

Potential disruption
For a country that is already struggling with growing unemployment numbers, shaking up the informal education sector could not only displace many learners, but also lead to loss of many jobs. Alternative schools employ thousands of teachers and other support personnel, thus helping alleviate joblessness condition in the country. On the other hand, the measures could help modernize and formalize the usually chaotic informal education sector.