INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT SUMMARY:

School Leader’s Name: Luseno Onesmas Lumwachi

Position: Head Teacher

Interview Date: June 18, 2021

As a head teacher (HT), what are your main roles and responsibilities?

There are many responsibilities to being a head teacher:

• Head teachers are the link between learners and teachers
• Head teachers are a link between the school and the Ministry of Education
• Role model to both the teachers and the learners
• A HT is primarily a teacher as there is an obligation to teach. The head teacher’s lessons need to be number one. Everyone will strive to follow in the footsteps of the head teacher or perform better than the head teacher.
• Supervisor of the day-to-day activities of the school
• Ambassador of the school in the community, as a link between the community and the school. Because if the community is going to report anything about the school, the person who will receive it will be the head teacher because he is acting as the ambassador of the school to the community.
• Acts as a representative of World Food Programme (WFP), in terms of supervising the provision of meals to learners in the school
• Signatory to the Board of Management (BOM) committee members and the school account; act as a secretary to the BOM. The composition of the BOM is the PTA (Parent Teachers Association) — one parent is in charge for each class from Grade 1-8, so there are 8 parents. Out of 8 parents, there are 6 who make up the BOM. The BOM are the final decision makers in the school. Out of 6, there are also two representatives from the government of Kenya. 2 members are also given from religious centers in the community. And then there is one official. People with special needs also have one representative. There is also one representative for populations of special interest (or someone from the minority population). So there are 13 members in total, and these individuals are the final decision makers in the school. They also observe what the head teacher is doing in the school — mandated by the MoE and the community — they observe the day-to-day activities in the school. The BOM also assists the head teacher in writing proposals in terms of deciding what the goals and needs are for the school. The BOM also represents the school in meetings, for example with NGO partners.
• Ambassador of goodwill in terms of writing proposals so that the school may receive funds for the school improvement plan that is made by the BOM
• The HT is the final person who receives materials or anything that is brought in the school. HT acts as a quality assurance officer within the school with the guidance of the BOM.

What do you like the most about being a head teacher / what do you like the least about being a head teacher?

I like giving back to the community, and I like mentoring young people so by the time I will not be there, there will be doctors, nurses, and contributing members of the community. For example, in 25 years, I may not be there but if I have groomed learners to be contributing members of the community, there will be doctors and other relevant people and even a head teacher. I help people reach the goals of their career. At one point, I was not raised by my mother (who passed away when I was 2 years old), and I had a step mother taking care of me. I underwent a bad life in the hands of my step mother, but I found solace in the teachers in my school, especially the head teacher. This teacher nurtured me and took me as his kid. Gave me food, even though it was prepared for the teachers. If someone like my head teacher took care of me, I am indebted to take care of people.

As a head teacher, I reach a time where you are indebted to so many people. I may not have the capacity to fulfill each individual’s needs. Perhaps there are ten girls who come to my office, and they want sanitary pads. There are times when you want to help and you go beyond what you have and use your personal funds. What you have is what you share since schools do not have petty cash. In my pocket, I have 100ksh (personal money), which can perhaps only buy sanitary pads for one girl and nine girls will not be able to get assistance from me. This makes me not feel okay about it.

Think about a specific challenge or dilemma you have faced as a head teacher. What was it? How did you resolve it?

The biggest challenge that I had was a situation where somebody had registered a learner to sit for the final exam, and another learner who was not registered came and tried to take the exam of that learner which is impersonation and is illegal. I did not know this was happening, and I was almost arrested for this impersonation which comes with fees and other consequences, other than being terrifying. Once we found out the case, we called the parents and the BOM, and we spoke with the learner who was coming to try to take the exam and explain the situation and it was resolved.

What support do you think would be most helpful for you to carry out your work? What do you think head teachers need or want to help them be better school leaders? 

• Thinking in terms of teachers, if I can support the employment of trained teachers, that can better the academic endeavours of learners and it will help me do my work.
• There is a need for learning material for boys and girls.
• Girls need sanitary materials available in the school.
• We need some support for bettering the education of the boy child, as much investment is focused on girls’ access to education.
• We need Intensive training offered for Special Needs Education (SNE). I have some little knowledge about learners with disabilities, but as a head teacher, I would like more training to ensure I can attend to everybody in my school.
• There is a need for infrastructure support, as we need a new school kitchen due to the one we have is almost falling. We also need lighting for the learners who come for remedial learning in the evening.
• There is a management course–Kenya Educational Management Institute (KEMI)–that some head teachers and deputy head teachers have access to which is online training, one year, and ends with a diploma.
• When I became a head teacher, I received an orientation to understand the tasks ahead of a HT, however we did not undergo intensive training. Some staff at the school are trained more than others. Sometimes this can be challenging because we are working with people who have not undergone training, so their perspectives may be different from mine (and I have gone through training). So I think more teachers should go through training, which would really benefit our school.

If you could share something about your experience with school leaders in other parts of the world, what would you want to share? 

I would like them to understand that being a school leader in the camp and settlement, we are facing more challenges than them. It requires you to be strong, dedicated, and have the heart of a father or mother. Going forward, if a way could be made, so head teachers from the camp and settlement, from Mongolia, from South Africa, from Pakistan, from Palestine could have a conference, it would have a very big impact because we shall learn from each other.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT SUMMARY:

School Leader’s Name: Ali Mathias

Position: Deputy Head Teacher

Interview Date: June 15, 2021

As a deputy head teacher (DHT) what are your main roles and responsibilities?

My primary roles and responsibilities of a deputy head teacher include:

• My first responsibility is a teacher and I teach 20-22 lessons per week.
• In charge of the disciplinary committee: all instances of indiscipline will go through the DHT before going to the head teacher.
• Staff meeting secretary: whenever there is a staff meeting the DHT keeps records and keeps track of anything that happens within the meeting.
• Coordinating school timetable: ensures school time table is well organized and well-leveled to ensure that teachers go to their classes in an organized manner.
• Check and approve teachers’ professional documents: before teachers go to class, s/he has well prepared their scheme of work, lesson plan, and then checks the progressive record of the work covered and of the learners after the lesson.
• Supervising and overseeing curriculum implementation.
• Supervisor in subject panel to see how far teachers reach in terms of syllabus coverage.
• School record keeper and store keeper: any school asset given by NGO partner the DHT receives it and keeps record of them, and when it is being used, the DHT records usage.
• Ensuring there is good collaboration between school staff and guardians, PTAs [Parent-Teacher Associations] and BOMs [Boards of Management], and coordinating school activities between those actors.

What are the biggest challenges you face as a deputy head teacher? What support, if any, do you receive to overcome these challenges? Who provides this support?

As a refugee head teacher, the biggest challenges I normally face include:

• Dealing with indiscipline cases: when there are indiscipline cases that happen in the school, I find myself to find solutions and see how I can find myself to bring people on board. Some cases require parents to be on board, so invite parents and the two bodies included in indiscipline, to talk through issues.
• Lack of resources: while people are embracing technology, we are still using manuals to keep records. Records can get lost easily. Laptops and computers would be very helpful to keep records.
• Overcrowded classrooms: it becomes too difficult for me for the school to be well controlled because of the large number of learners in school. When you go to classes, you find the classes are overcrowded, there are no desks; and so there is difficulty to control the school.
• Early pregnancy and early marriages: in P7 and P8, many female students have gotten married or are pregnant, and it is very difficult to find a solution on that issue. [Primary 7 and Primary 8 are the last two grades in primary school, with learners ranging in age from approximately 12-15 years old.]

Most of the time, up to this level, we have maybe some support from the NGO partner that may be normally take us through training on how to deal with indiscipline cases within the school; there are also other organizations that try to keep girls busy during holidays and weekends to take them for remedial classes (to avoid early pregnancy and marriage).

What support do you think would be most helpful for you to carry out your work? What do you think head teachers/deputy head teachers need or want to help them be better school leaders?   

As DHT we would be most supported in our work if given capacity building training. Most of the time… as DHTs we know there is much to be handled in the school and capacity building training can empower us to deal with different situations we face on daily situations, such as training and guidance and counseling to support DHTs to deal with issues at the school level. DHTs could also be supported with opportunities to be taken to universities for training to enhance their knowledge and capability of dealing with administrative issues. Typically, when someone is promoted to be DHT from a teacher, there is no training for them to go through, despite there being additional roles that they take on as a school leader. The NGO partner procedure for promotion for DHTs considers only senior teachers that are selected by the HT. From the senior teacher population the NGO partner chooses one among the senior teachers to be the DHT when there is a vacancy. You can also apply to be a senior teacher or to be a DHT. After being promoted from senior teacher to DHT or HT, there are additional responsibilities and the position is new to teachers. After being promoted, it is important to receive capacity building training for how to handle a position, including administrative training for how to handle the school, and how to take care of the entire school. When you are given the position of DHT, there are a number of people you are expected to give instructions to ensure the school is successful and this is not something to joke with. There are some directions given by HT and a job description on role expectations, but a job description is just a list of roles and responsibilities, there is no regular training for all DHTs.

DHTs also need support in record keeping. There should be provision of some materials or items that can help DHTs in record keeping, rather than having a manual to keep all the records. There are so many records that we keep and report on a weekly basis — there are reports DHTs have to write on a weekly, monthly, and termly basis. There is no space to keep all the reports together. For example, we are in 2021, maybe someone comes and wants records from 2016, I can’t keep records from 2016 given the space. So a computer or laptop would be very helpful for record keeping.

DHTs need recognition for the work that they are doing. In terms of the incentive and salary, refugees are not given salaries; just given incentives. DHTs should be compensated commensurate with the work we are doing. It can motivate us and make sure we do great work.

If you could share something about your experience as DHT with school leaders in other parts of the world, what would you want to share? 

First of all, we need to look into girl child education. According to my experience, I have seen it has reached a certain stage where girls are getting lost and don’t know where they are going. I have made research compiling the number of girls in lower primary and upper primary. You will find that in lower primary schools the number of girls is higher than the ones of boys in most of the schools in the class. In grade 1 up to grade 4, the number of girls is a little bit higher compared to the number of boys. But when you reach grade 5, you will find the number of girls decreasing and the number of boys rising. When you go to class 6, 7, 8, which are the worst class sizes with 300 learners in class 8, you find maybe only 100 are girls and the remaining 200 are boys. Or among 350, 360 candidates, maybe 98 are girls? So I ask myself a question, “where do these girls normally disappear? Where do they go?” There is a need for school leaders to put into consideration the girl child education to ensure we look for ways to promote girl child education. The previous days we had Windle Trust who provided materials to girls (menstrual pads, incentives) but that is not all. School leaders also need to come with a strategy to find out why this is happening. This is happening across Africa — when you go to a working environment across the continent, you find there are more males working than females. So more work needs to be done with parents and the community to ensure girls stay in school. Wherever you are, make sure you plan and see ways to allow girls to be in the school.

There needs to be equal opportunity to all genders. There is nothing that a boy does which a girl cannot do. So people should know that there is not anything which a human being cannot do once he or she is given a chance to do it. Once you are given a chance and more time to practice, you will have to make it. So people should be considered the same and given equal opportunity. As managers of the school, we should give all learners equal opportunities. What we give to boys, we should give to girls.

Secondly, according to my experience, I have seen that being a teacher that most people do not prefer because of the pay and because of maybe the look of the life of teachers. Because in most of the areas, most people are neglecting this department. Teachers are the ones who are let down. For you to be a doctor or the president, they went to school. They had teachers. Everyone passes through the education system. So teachers are the principal root that people should respect. Teachers are the ones bringing the fruit in the world. So why are people neglecting being a teacher? Is it because of the outlook of this career? Most of the time people who are paid well in the government are not teachers. Teachers are lamenting on their salary; you can find someone who has been a teacher for many years, you find he does not have a house or a car at home. The little salary he is getting goes back into giving education to his family. Teachers are neglected in some areas, which is something that the entire world has to look into, and has to value the work that a teacher does in the world. Because teachers are doing the work for others to be called people. We are here to ‘complete’ people so they should at least value teachers and at least look into these issues and maintain a good welfare in terms of everything and the budgets for education and the education sector.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT SUMMARY:

School Leader’s Name: Rhoda Daniel Asilik

Position: Deputy Head Teacher

Interview Date: June 22, 2021

What do you like the most about being a deputy head teacher (DHT)? What do you like the least?

What I like the most about being a deputy head teacher is the administration responsibilities, because it gives a lot of experience, courage, and confidence. These responsibilities also enable a DHT to have good language command and improve their language and communication skills. However, most of the learning for how to complete these responsibilities is on the job. There is only a short training before becoming a DHT. Most DHT were previously trained as primary teachers. Some workshop training offered by NGOs in the camp and settlement include a unit of administration and school hierarchy.

What I like the least about being a DHT is when there is poor means of communication and poor connection with the NGO partner office. If there are not good language skills with the NGO, it brings a lot of misunderstanding that breaks up the teamwork of the staff. There are also technological challenges related to communication with the NGO partner that are challenging for DHT specifically. HTs have greater access to phones and data bundles than DHTs, making it easier for them to communicate responsibilities with the NGO. Limited devices for DHTs have been challenging and placed a strain on relationships.

What are the biggest challenges you face as a deputy head teacher? What additional challenges did you face as a deputy head teacher, due to the COVID-19 health pandemic?

DHTs, as refugees or incentive teachers, are poorly paid for their work. The lack of pay is demoralizing and is not supportive of the needs of the DHT. DHTs only work for the sake of their community, experiences, and improving the profession, but financially it is not motivating to have such little pay. At times DHTs may want to leave the job but it is too hard to find another job so they may stay in their position despite there being little financial motivation or support. If there was a larger incentive, then there would be better morale of the DHTs. The little they are given they use to improve their work.

Other challenges for a DHT are instructional. There are big challenges including overcrowded classrooms with over 200 learners in the same room. Even with COVID-19 pandemic it is so crowded and there’s only so much they can do with providing masks for learners. Grades 1, 2, and 3, it is really challenging with the noise of so many learners in the class. Hard to teach a large population of students. The workload is too high for teachers and many have headaches from too much shouting because of the crowd. If a teacher gives two assignments then they have 400 assignments to mark which can be a headache for the teachers. In addition, there is a shortage of staff in both teaching and non-teaching staff is not enough.

At times, there are also challenges with relationships between the HT and the DHT. All HTs are currently from Kenyan host community. At times, DHTs feel as if the HTs undermine the refugee staff as they are being paid 10X what the refugee staff is making which is really painful. DHTs live with the challenge and the pain as refugees. If the NGO partner were offering support for further studies then there would be some additional motivation for the refugee teachers, but that is not happening. The HT often provides delegation to the DHT, which the DHT is to obey and complete the requested task. There are challenges with communication and the sharing of information between a HT and a DHT which can lead a DHT to feel as if they are not receiving all the necessary information for their role.

The compounding challenges make it difficult for refugee staff, including DHTs. Teachers find it to be a very hard job since there is little motivation and that leads to many teachers leaving their job. If a DHT has a family they are facing a very hard life, because they go to a job from the morning until the evening but there is still so little pay each month. There is high teacher turnover for this reason. Training of teachers is challenging with such high turnover. Nothing can keep someone in their position if they are not supported or motivated to continue the work. In order to address this problem, there needs to be more opportunities to improve the profession and have continued studies.

The pandemic brought a lot of issues that affected the camp and settlement. The biggest challenge is water in the camp. It really has affected the whole community. The community may have three days without water. Water is expensive. It affects going to school because if there is no water in the community then there is no water in the school, and during the pandemic when they are supposed to be washing hands frequently it is really very hard. More than 2 or 3 hours without water, with 200 learners in the same classroom, with poor ventilation leading to it being very dusty. This affects learning because they will have to be sent home without water in the school. There is no feeding program when there is no water. The ECD learners are also in the same school. All children have to be sent home when there is no water in the school. With social distancing, grades 4 and 8 decided to stay home. This impacts the syllabus coverage, cycling the grades in the schools. This is affecting the students who are able to complete the exams. They have been forced to create more classrooms to handle the large population and distance. This will only increase the workload of the teachers, but with no additional pay or motivation for the teachers while taking on these additional classes. The washing hands task became difficult with so many learners in a line, with social distancing, who were waiting to wash hands (could take hours). The feeding is done in shifts with lower classes (1-5) and the upper classes in the afternoon. The workload is already heavy and is now being doubled. The teaching learning materials, even the meals, they now have to cook twice with the shifts of eating and the school resources are being exhausted.

Think about a specific challenge or dilemma you have faced as a deputy head teacher. What was it? How did you resolve it?

There was a specific challenge with a HT when they were first transferred to the school. It is a common practice for HTs and DHTs to be moved around the schools. Refugee DHTs are often based on the location of where they live for their school assignment. The HTs come into the settlement with vehicles. The HT that came to this school was discouraging to the DHT. The HT was so quiet and did not share the information from the NGO partner office with the DHT. There were times that the DHT was not informed of training. The roles and responsibilities between the HT and DHT are supposed to be coordinated and working together, but when one person is not interested in doing so it brings a misunderstanding. The HT is responsible for delegating tasks, and in this circumstance the HT insisted that certain roles should not be shared with the DHT. To resolve this problem, the DHT wrote an email to the supervisor at the NGO partner, an education officer who then came to the school to do an investigation. The investigation involved the Quality Assurance and Standards Officer (QASOs) who did not find enough to report. Instead, the HT and DHT were given a two month period to work together. After two months, they have ended up working together so far until now.

What support do you think would be most helpful for you to carry out your work? What do you think deputy head teachers need or want to help them be better school leaders?

As a DHT, there is a need for motivation in terms of increasing incentive pay, even a small percent, according to the length of time that the staff member has been working. This change will boost morale. Since more refugees are coming into the camp and settlement, the school enrollment is increasing every term. The work of the DHT would be easier and more enjoyable if there was more staff in the school. There should be more teachers to support the increased learners, but also more support staff to help the DHT with the feeding program and other responsibilities of the school infrastructure. All staff in the school need additional training in order to be supported in their current roles. There should be additional support through longer training that is ongoing. The DHT wrote an email to the NGO partner office to request training support but was unsuccessful.

In addition, there are physical needs for the school environment, such as the building, learning resources, and perimeter need to be improved. Technological support is needed such as airtime or bundles for communication.