Teacher transfers are routine school management reorganisations that employers use to ensure the institutions benefit from talent mix while offering the tutors a chance to reassess their growth and impact.
Some transfers come with reward and while others may be read as a penalty, but, generally, they generate little or no interest, partly because of the big number of teachers.
However, some teacher movements have generated a lot of interest and heat, becoming hot topics, becoming mass media agenda or social social media trends.
Kisumu Girls and Sironga Girls have been on the lips of Kenyans after the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) transferred school principals in Western Kenya and Nyanza at the start of the year.
First, it was Eva Akeyo Odhiambo who got a warm welcome at Kisumu Girls, her new station from Sironga Girls in Nyamira County.
Students welcomed Mrs Odhiambo, their new chief principal, with Marakwet Daughter’s song, ‘Mali Safi Chito’ that praises ‘good people’.
But, as Mrs Odhiambo was settling in, her replacement in Sironga, Jane Nyanumba from from Tombe Girls, received a similar if not better reception with social media photos showing learners singing and dancing to welcome their new head.
Teachers have been received with aplomb or ridicule based on their track record or perception, however the warm welcome, among other gestures, helps students, the new head and parents to build a strong bond early to the benefit of the learners and the school.
Just as Mrs Odhiambo told her new students, they are supposed to graduate as better people while also leaving the school in a better shape.
Unfortunately, the society is of late putting a lot of pressure on teachers, especially the principals, demanding stellar performance in KCSE, the final national exam the learners sit at the end of their four years of study.
Also Read: Kisumu Girls new principal once headed a school of four students
This is only possible when teachers feel respected and the learners feel cared for without being worshipped or pampered respectively.
Teachers are trained to guide learners into becoming “better people” by being shown how to live with the rest; what comes with praise and punishment.
Unfortunately, a big number of education stakeholders have taken to judging teachers and learners by one final examination, either KCPE or KCSE, the primary and secondary schools final examinations. The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination, sat after after years of primary education, was retired last year after about four decades since 1985.
To build a stronger foundation of leadership, parents and other stakeholders ought to use the verified complaint channels by communicating grievances to the board of management or the employer instead of confronting a teacher over perceived mistakes and missteps.
And, just like some people have opined, being received like a queen, like the two heads were, does not mean that the said teacher should not be assessed or questioned.
Instead, such a welcome should prepare the new arrival for a lot of work to ensure systems work and also inspire workers and the learners.
Going forward, Kenyan schools should build a culture of open communication where the voice of the teacher, student and parent is heard without making any party to think they are above the law or are ‘small people’ without a voice.
Warning: Just because Sironga and Kisumu Girls danced while welcoming their new heads, let it not turn into a copycat or competition where learners are pushed to outperform other schools.
Most important, there is a correlation between how the school and education stakeholders interact and the development of the institution and the entire economy.
