Govt to Employ Pastors for All Schools

Jun 07, 2023

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will employ pastors and Imams in schools in order to promote Value-based Education (VbE), if recommendations by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms sail through.

According to the report received on Tuesday, August 1, by President William Ruto, stakeholders in the education sector expressed the need to create awareness about VbE.

The taskforce proposed achieving this by involving all members of the school community, integrating values across all learning areas, and developing and implementing structured chaplaincy programs in schools.

If the recommendation is adopted, the Ministry of Education (MoE) will be assigned the responsibility of developing structured chaplaincy (religious and moral) and counseling guidelines and programs.

Curriculum development will be undertaken collaboratively by the MoE, legal professional counselling bodies, and faith-based organisations.

“TSC shall employ and deploy teachers as chaplains/imams in schools and the chaplains/imams can be shared between schools,” PWP recommended.

The task force did not provide specific details regarding the academic qualifications needed for pastors and imams who will be employed by TSC. Moreover, there was no mention of the religious leaders earmarked for the roles.

Moreover, TSC will also be entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that schools respect the religious rights of every student.

“A provision on facilitation of religious rights of learners in schools including the sponsored schools should be included in the Basic Education Act,” reads part of the report.

The document also recommended that the Education Cabinet Secretary be assigned the duty of engaging with all religious groups in the country through consultative forums.

Per the report, the objective of the proposal is to develop guidelines that aim to facilitate the religious rights of all learners in basic education institutions.