The Constitution in Chapter 4 Article 43(1) f provides that every Kenyan citizen is entitled to, among many other rights and freedoms; the right to education.This is in line with the Education for All goals calling on countries to ensure they provide their citizens with free, accessible and equitable education that is in tandem with SDG 4 agenda on provision of free, quality and accessible education to all citizens of the world by 2030. This call has been elusive to most countries in the world.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers alongside other teacher trade unions launched a report on the extent and nature of privatisation and commercialisation of education in Kenya in September, 2022. There is an ongoing debate about private education, notably for-profit education, leading to the commercialisation of education. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education has devoted three consecutive reports to raising alarm on the subject. Against this backdrop, the study demonstrated the increase of private education providers in the education sector. 

Like many other countries, Kenya is slowly recovering from the economic meltdown resulting from the impact of Covid-19. However, for the country to maintain momentum on the gains made on the education front, it is important that the government commits itself more in education provision. Commitment to provide infrastructure, especially the extra classrooms and laboratories for junior secondary schools (JSS) is laudable, plans by TSC to employ 35,000 more teachers on contract terms by the end of 2023 to address workload and understaffing is commendable.

This will go a long way in making public schools more attractive, hence a step in retaining more leaners in public schools. Focus should, however, also be on putting these teachers on permanent and pensionable terms, just like their other colleagues. This will go a long way in promoting equity in service provision. 

It is important to note is that there are various causes of privatisation and commercialisation of education in Kenya which can be categorised as demand and supply factors. They are high demand for education, inadequate public schools, perceived decline in quality of education, increased human population, education policies, availability of trained and unemployed teachers, perception of free basic education, increased number of business entrepreneurs in the education sector, reduced government capitation, differentiated curriculum demand in education, lack of regulation of private schools, distance to school, poor working conditions among teachers in the public school system, demands by students themselves and demands by school management boards.

These triggers can be handled by government if proper investment in education is undertaken. In the 2022/2023 budgetary allocation, Sh544.4 billion was appropriated for the education sector. Sh12 billion was set aside for free primary education with Sh2.5 billion going to teacher recruitment, Sh64.4 billion was for free day secondary schools and Sh5 billion for exams waiver for Grade Six, Class Eight and Form Four students. Sh294.7 billion was allocated to the Teachers Service Commission, Sh6.8 billion to the secondary education quality improvement projects, Sh91.2 billion to university education and Sh15.8 billion to Helb, among other costs.

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This allocation is not enough to sustain the education sector given the fact that the population has out grown the available infrastructure and the 100 per cent transition policy by government. It is of our considered opinion that more funds be directed to the sector for the realisation of both local and international commitments on education.

Realising that it is the role of the government to provide free and quality education to children as stipulated in the Sustainable Development Goal number 4 and the Kenyan Constitution, the survey recommended the need for all education stakeholders to be involved in the national dialogue on the best way to regulate private education providers and increase government schools’ presence in identified areas, especially urban informal settlements. 

The study also recommended stringent observance of the Kenya Physical Planning Act (2019) that provides for social amenity spaces in residential areas, revamping public schools to make them more attractive to parents, learners and workers, revised and increased government capitation to public schools, ambitious recruitment of trained teachers to public schools across the country, increase budgetary allocation by the National Government to the quality assurance and standards department to enhance monitoring and regulation of schools.

The survey also recommended a review the boarding schools policy in Kenya, which is the main avenue for commercialisation of education and ensuring the unionisation and protection of the rights of teachers and education support personnel in private schools. We hope these recommendations will help in forming a national dialogue that will address privatisation and commercialisation of education. By Collins Oyuu, The Standard

Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi has vowed to take stern action against staff who will be guilty of theft of public resources.

While affirming his administration will not fall for the trap of out of court settlement, Abddullahi said those suspected will be taken to court of law to face trial and subsequent jailing.

His remarks come after allegations that hospital equipment belonging to Giriftu Hospital was stolen and some of medical supplies unaccounted for.

The county boss said when grave issues like theft occur, elders throng at his office in defense of the culprits, curtailing justice's course.

"We don’t want theft of medicines at all, the clan elders better tell their boys to stop the vices because they will deal with the police and courts", said Abdullahi. 

He instructed the County Executive Committee member for Health Habiba Ali Maalim to undertake an audit of all hospitals to ascertain if all equipment supplied by the county government, the World Bank, Managed Equipment Services (MES), and non-governmental organizations is there and that medical superintendents should account for it.

Abdullahi said when he assumed office in his second tenure, Wajir General Hospital didn’t even have drip stands, and the nurses were using windows instead, despite procuring hundreds of them.

"We want to motivate our healthcare workers by paying their salary on time, at the latest on the 25th of every month, despite late disbursements of funds from the treasury", Ahmed said. 

He said in three weeks’ time his administration will do a ground breaking ceremony for the construction of a three-story building that will house a new accident and emergency unit, intensive care unit, high dependency unit, three Theaters, and a new ward with 44 bed capacity to offset referrals to Nairobi.

The governor said he remains committed to the pledge to restore hope in the county’s health sector.

“I have today flagged off medical supplies that we purchased from KEMSA for use at our Wajir County referral hospital. Within the course of the week, we shall receive the remaining batch for our other 131 health facilities as part of our Sh94 million order for medical products,” he said.

Abdullahi said it is worth noting that the county has cleared all KEMSA's pending bill totalling Sh65 million. By Ismail Noor, The Standard 

Rowan Atkinson has said he feels “a little duped” by electric cars and urged motorists to keep using older petrol vehicles to help save the planet.

The actor, who played Blackadder and Mr Bean and is a self-confessed “car person”, claims new advances in electric battery design will be of “great environmental benefit one day, but that day has yet to dawn”.

In a 1,100-word essay for The Guardian, he explains how despite owning his first hybrid car 18 years ago and then a “pure electric” nine years ago, he now thinks “electric motoring doesn’t seem to be quite the environmental panacea it is claimed to be.”

Describing them as “a bit soulless” but “wonderful mechanisms”, Mr Atkinson, 68, concludes that “our honeymoon with electric cars is coming to an end”.

The actor, who studied an electrical and electronic engineering degree, points out that although electric cars have zero emissions when on the road, their actual manufacture, according to research by Volvo, suggests greenhouse gas emissions during production are 70 per cent higher than petrol vehicles, in part due to the lithium-ion batteries which require “rare earth metals and huge amounts of energy” to create. 

He adds that CO2 emissions could be dramatically reduced if our current fleet of cars bought new were kept by the original owner for five years, rather than sold after an average of just three years.

He writes for the paper that “we’d be enjoying the same mobility, just driving slightly older cars” explaining how a “wider range of options need to be explored”, including hydrogen and synthetic fuels.

He adds: “In terms of manufacture, these cars have paid their environmental dues and, although it is sensible to reduce our reliance on them, it would seem right to look carefully at ways of retaining them while lowering their polluting effect.”

He concludes: “Friends with an environmental conscience often ask me, as a car person, whether they should buy an electric car. I tend to say that if their car is an old diesel and they do a lot of city centre motoring, they should consider a change. But otherwise, hold fire for now. 

“Electric propulsion will be of real, global environmental benefit one day, but that day has yet to dawn.” By Steve Bird, The Telegraph