Education is a specialised services sector whose management should be entrusted to people who have the knowledge, expertise and experience to ensure its real benefit to the individual learners, families, communities and the nation.
This underscores the fundamental principle of the need for effective educational leadership and administration. The running of the education system is highly complex as it directly influences human development for national progress.
Quite surprising, therefore, is the plan to make county commissioners the education chiefs in their areas of jurisdiction as the chairpersons of the County Education Boards. The Basic Education Bill, 2026, which is undergoing public participation in compliance with the constitutional requirement for people to be involved in the making of decisions that are bound to affect them, has sparked a storm.
There is no good reason why general administrators should also preside over education matters. Perhaps they could just become members of the education boards, but should not be charged with this key responsibility. Education management should be left to people who can add value instead of entertaining frivolous meddling in this key area.
As education stakeholders have rightly pointed out, this move should be rejected, as it is likely to undermine the independence of these essential boards. If the authorities must go ahead with this Bill, then as the education stakeholders have suggested, it should be subjected to key amendments.
It will be retrogressive to return to the past setup, where the old district commissioners used to make unilateral decisions on the management of educational institutions. The rule that educationists or people with experience in management should be competitively picked as chairpersons of the board should be maintained.
When education systems are led by qualified experts rather than just general administrators or political appointees, this creates a positive impact across all the levels of society.
Professional management ensures that this essential investment translates into real, measurable life skills and opportunities for the learners.
Follow our WhatsApp channel for breaking news updates and more stories like this.
