Schools across the country have been urged to use internal dispute resolution mechanisms during sports competitions to resolve their differences.
Director General of the Ministry of Education Elyas Abdi warned schools against using the school’s resources to initiate legal actions against each other.
Speaking during the official opening of the National Secondary School Games in Kakamega, Abdi noted that there are various channels for dispute resolution and grievance redress, from the sub-counties to the national level, that culminate at the Ministry of Education headquarters.
“Let us all commit to following the laid-down procedures, ensuring transparency, consistency and fairness in all the decisions that we take,” he added.
Abdi noted that the recent trend of schools initiating legal actions against each other, the sports association, and the Ministry of Education is counterproductive.
He said legal actions would negatively affect the games and cause unnecessary government spending.
“We are asking our schools to let us all resolve our differences amicably and efficiently and focus the scarce resource on education and development of our students. We don’t encourage and we disagree with, all those who are going to court to solve these disputes,” he said.
Abdi also emphasised the mandatory registration of all students through the Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS), as they are fundamental in upholding the integrity of school games and sports.
“The verification of player details against the KEMIS records will ensure a level playing field for all, therefore fostering genuine sportsmanship where success is earned through true talent and effort.
The system will also facilitate accurate data management, which is essential for effective talent identification, the development of targeted programmes and informed policy directions,” he added.
On age-based competition, Abdi said that the games are capped at 19 years and below for basic education.
“And that is the global best practice in the national school sports competition, including those at the East African level, which are predominantly age-based. We cannot have an open-ended age competition; we have restricted that and that should be enforced,” he added.
He said a total of 5300 students across the country are participating in the National Secondary school games accompanied by over 1000 teachers and officials.
“School games are more than just competitions; they are a significant process for identifying and developing talent. They are the very seedbed where future national and international champions are nurtured,” he added.
Head of the Directorate of Field Coordination and Co-Curricular Activities, Nelson Sifuna, said the games would be very entertaining.
By Moses Wekesa
