Education decline in Lamu most worrying

When students, teachers and parents from well managed institutions countrywide, be it secondary schools or primary schools celebrated their good results in last year's examinations, we Lamu people were mourning.

Our own schools had performed dismally. For the parents, this was a bitter herb to swallow. A practical example is the Kiunga Primary School in the Amu zone of the Lamu East Constituency which did not yield any student to secondary school in last year’s examinations. It is worth mentioning that the main stakeholders in the education sector are so casual in matters to do with education as if they are waiting for a miracle to happen.

We all must understand that success only comes after hard work. But frankly speaking, the local District Education Officer does not seem to understand his duties. Lamu is like an academic Babel because not even the teachers understand their duties. For instance, the head teacher of Kiunga Primary School has now resorted to petty issues leaving educational development at stake.

This head teacher is becoming expert in abusing the local parents as ignorant and is constantly sending the pupils home to buy uniforms. His penchant for pettiness is killing the morale of the teachers to the detriment of the pupils' welfare. It is high time this teacher stopped harassing pupils over petty issues as uniforms because this is wasting valuable learning time.

Shee Kupi Shee,
Lamu.

Readeers Forums:
Sunday Times, April, 8, 2007