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    Final Recommendations on Laws Governing Basic Education by the Presidential Working Committee on Education

    Hillary KangwanaBy

    Recommendations on Laws Governing Basic Education

    1. Repeal Early Childhood Education Act and transfer the provisions on ECE to the Basic Education This will align with the legal definition of basic education as starting from Pre-Primary to Senior School. In addition the amendments necessary to provide for governance and management of independently-run public ECE centres.
    2. MoE, COG and TSC to develop an intergovernmental agreement for hiring and remuneration of Pre-Primary teachers. This will ensure harmonisation of pay for all Pre- Primary teachers and that the TSC manages the payroll based on an allocation from Parliament while the Counties hire the Pre-Primary
    3. Amend Section 56 of the Basic Education Act to revise the composition of the school’s BOMs as follows:
      • For Senior School, there shall be 10 members as follows:
        • The chairperson of the PTA;
        • Three representatives of the sponsor(s) of the school, where applicable;
        • One person with disability;
        • Two persons with relevant professional qualifications;
        • Three ex-officio members;
          • One nominee of NGAO;
          • The SCDE or their nominee who shall be an employee of
          • The head of the institution shall be the Secretary of the
        • For comprehensive school, there shall be 13 members as follows:
          • Three persons from among the parents in the school, one of whom shall be the chairperson of the PTA;
          • Three representatives of the sponsor(s) of the school, where applicable;
          • One person with disability;
          • Two persons with relevant professional qualifications;
          • Four ex-officio members:
            • One nominee of NGAO;
            • The SCDE or their nominee who shall be an employee of MoE;
            • Ward administrator or their nominee who shall be an employee of the County; and
            • The head of the institution who shall be the Secretary of the
          • Delete Section 56 (3) of the Basic Education Act to remove the option of co-option and delete Section 62, which provides for the Secretary of the In the first inaugural meeting, the members shall elect their chair. A transitional clause be provided for the effective dates of the BoMs, to take care of the current office holders.
    1. Insert a new Section 56A to provide that in a comprehensive school, the head of the institution shall be referred to as the Principal with a Deputy Principal heading each of the levels, e. Pre-Primary, Primary and Junior School.
    2. Amend Section 20 (1) (a) of the Basic Education Act to delete an educationist of at least five years standing based in the County as the chair of CEB and replace with the County Commissioner who shall be the chair. In addition, delete the provisions of Part II of the Basic Education Act providing for the establishment and operations of the National Education Board since it is moribund and duplicates the roles of the Cabinet Secretary of
    3. Amend Section 64 (1) of the Basic Education Act to delete ESQAC and create the Directorate of Quality Assurance and Standards (DQAS). Provide for the functions of the Directorate in the Act, including enforcement
    4. Change the name of the National Council for Nomadic Education to National Council for Education in Marginalised Communities and include the mandate of managing school feeding programme and low cost boarding Primary
    5. Delete Section 11 (c), (f) and Section 35 (1) of the TSC Act and related provisions in the TSC regulations regarding the Quality Assurance
    6. Delete Section 35 (2) of the TSC Act and the related provisions in the TSC Pre-Service and in-service teacher training is the responsibility of the MoE.
    7. Deployment, transfer and promotion of teachers by TSC should be done in consultation with MoE. Heads of basic education institutions who are employed by TSC to be agents of and accountable to MoE in the management of those
    8. The management and running of schools is the responsibility of the national Government through TSC on the other hand has responsibility over teachers as their employer. Consequently, in the discharge of this respective mandates in a manner that ensures seamless delivery of all learning activities, MoE and TSC to develop structured consultation mechanisms. In addition, TSC to focus on the human resource function.
    9. Restructure the State Department for Basic Education directorates for effective and efficient delivery of Basic Education
    10. Amend the Basic Education Act, as follows:
    • Section 54 (3) by inserting a new Sub-Section to provide for the functions of the Director General and include quality assurance and standards and adult and continuing education as part of its functions and by inserting a new Section to provide for the office of the RDE, its functions and reporting
    • Section 54 (7) to include quality assurance and standards and adult and continuing education as functions of CDE and provide the reporting
    • by inserting a new Section to provide for the office of the SCDE, its functions and reporting Provide in the Basic Education Regulations that the State Department for Basic Education shall have offices all the way to the zonal level.
    1. Develop and enact a Teacher Education and Training Bill as per Attachment 1 in Appendix 1 to establish the Kenya Teachers Training College (KeTTC) and Kenya School of Teacher and Education Management (KeSTEM) pursuant to recommendations in Chapter 4 of this Report.
    2. Amend Section 41 of the Basic Education Act to provide for:
      • System of basic education as follows:
        • Pre-Primary Education;
        • Primary Education;
        • Junior School;
        • Senior
      • The structure of 2-6-3-3 for basic
      • Comprehensive school system covering Pre-Primary to Junior
    3. Amend Regulation 79 (b) of the Basic Education Regulations 2015 to delete the classification of schools as National, Extra-county, County or Sub-county and replace the provision with the following classification:
    • Day Schools
    • Boarding Schools
    • Mixed (day/boarding).
    • Mixed (boys/girls).
    • According to Pathways at Senior
    1. In the Basic Education Act replace the Education and Management System (EMIS) with Kenya Education Information Management System (KEMIS). Provide that KEMIS captures information of all learners and learning institutions in basic education institutions and where a learner is not registrable due to reasons which may include: Lack of national identity card or being above 18 years, the CDE shall handle each case on its merit and where the reasons given are merited register the learner on KEMIS. General penalties for falsification of data are to be provided for in the
    2. Where applicable, the provisions of the SNE Bill 2021 be incorporated in the Basic Education Act, and part VI on Special Needs Education in the Basic Education Act be amended to:
    • Provide for the establishment of KISE to train SNE teachers;
    • Expand the mandate of KISE to include management of EARCs and provision of specialised learning resources, assistive devices and adapted
    • The Kenya Institute for the Blind to be established as a campus of
    • Provide a framework for collaboration between KISE, CEB and county governments in the operations of the Basic Education Act.
    1. Coordinate the management of bursaries and scholarships under one legal framework called Management of Scholarship and Bursaries in Basic Education Bill Attachment 2 Appendix 1: Outline of the proposed Bill). The new law shall include: coordinated management of bursaries and scholarships to be managed by Jomo Kenyatta Foundation to be recast as Kenya Basic Education Bursaries and Scholarships Council; a central database that captures all bursaries and scholarships; outlaw provision of bursaries and scholarships from two sources; outlaw remission of excess bursary and scholarships funds to awardees; needy students to be identified through the schools, wards, sub-county and County; and involve religious leaders, school heads and elected leaders. The Council is to be established as a semi-autonomous government agency within the State Department for Basic Education, and it shall be responsible for the following:
    • Administering the bursaries and scholarships
    • Providing the criteria for bursaries and scholarships;
    • Processing the identification of needs;
    • Keeping a database of all needy
    • Maintaining a database of institutions that provide bursaries and scholarships
    • Mobilising resources from the private sector to complement government
    • Collaborating with other agencies that provide bursaries and
    • Publish and publicize the list of awardees to avoid double
    • Reporting annually to the national and County

    The composition of the Council shall include relevant government stakeholders, namely: the State Department for Basic Education; KISE; KLB; National Treasury; NGCDF; and other private sector players such as the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) and religious groups and atleast two independent members.

    1. Delete the provisions of Section 93 on the education appeals tribunal and establish the same in a dedicated law called the The Education Appeals Tribunal bill Attachment 3 Appendix 7.1 In the new law, expand the mandate of the tribunal to hear all administrative appeals in the education sector. Tribunal shall comprise:
    • Chairperson of the Tribunal to be appointed by the Judicial Service Commission;
    • Representative of Kenya Private Sector Alliance;
    • Representative of COG;
    • Representative of Faith-Based Organisations;
    • Five persons with a background in Law, Education and Finance, one of whom shall be a person with a disability, competitively
    1. Restructure School Equipment Production Unit to School Learning and Instruction Materials Centre (SLIMC). Provide for its establishment in the Basic Education Act and expand its mandate to include the procurement and distribution of learning and instruction materials. Thus, the current arrangement where books are procured for schools by KICD be discontinued, and the function taken to the restructured SEPU. The Centre shall be a semi-autonomous government agency within the State Department of Basic Education, with the following membership: State Department for Basic Education; KICD; KNEC; Kenya Teacher Training College; National Treasury; and Private Schools Association.
    1. In the KICD Act, amend Section 4 to delete the phrases “tertiary education & training” and “technical and vocational education and training” at Sub- Sections (c), (d) (vii), (g) and (l) and replace with teacher education and Amend Section 5 (2) to include the CEO of the Kenya Teacher Training College or his/her representative and the CEO of KISE or his/her representative in the membership of the governing council. Amend Section 14 to replace the “Director of the Institute” with CEO, and the same be used throughout the Act and amend Sections 17 and 18 to remove Academic Committee.
    2. In the KLB Act:
      • Review the composition of the Board of Management by amending Section 5 (1) of the Act as follows:
        • A chairperson appointed by the
        • The Principal Secretary of the Ministry for the time being responsible for Basic Education or his/her
        • The Principal Secretary of the Ministry for the time being responsible for Finance or his/her
        • The CEO for the Scholarship and Bursaries in Basic Education
        • Four other members appointed by Cabinet Secretary responsible for Education with competencies in Education, Finance, Human Resources and
        • The CEO of the Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB).
      • Amend Section 5 (2) of the Act to provide that the term limits of the members of the Board shall not exceed a cumulative term of six years or a term of three (3) years and be eligible for re-appointment for one further
      • Amend Section 5 (6) of the Act to provide that the quorum of the Board shall be two-thirds of the
      • Replace the title Managing Director with Chief Executive Officer by amending Section 8 of the Act and anywhere else where the title is used in the The Act should also provide for a term of the CEO to be three
      • years and eligible for re-appointment for one further
      • Amend Section 9 of the Act to provide that the Board shall establish committees in the discharge of its
      • Delete Section 14 of the Act on the exemption from stamp
    1. In the KNEC Act, amend:
      • The title and Section 3 (1) to replace the phrase “Kenya National Examinations Council” with “Kenya National Assessment Council” and everywhere in the Act where the name of the Council appears as
      • Section 7 to provide that the chairperson and members of the Council shall serve for a term of three (3) years and be eligible for re-appointment for one further
      • Section 10 (1) (a) by deleting the phrase “tertiary” and replace with teacher education and Delete Section 40B, which provides for the establishment of the National Examination Appeals

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