Government settles confusion on where junior secondary will be domiciled

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu. [File, Standard]

The national government has directed that junior secondary be domiciled in primary schools.

This follows a recommendation by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform.

"Junior secondary schools - Grade 7, Grade 8 and Grade 9 - will be domiciled in the existing primary schools. The Ministry of Education will provide the necessary guidelines on how this will be done," State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed said in a press statement dated Thursday, December 1.

The government further said that Grade Six Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) won't be used to place learners in junior secondary, but to monitor learning progress.

"It (KPSEA) will be used as an assessment to monitor learning progress and provide feedback to education sector players on areas that require intervention," said Mohamed.

At the same, to facilitate primary-to-secondary transition, the government said the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will recruit an additional 30,000 teachers by January 2023.

Also agreed upon, is the construction of at least one extra classroom and a laboratory in each of Kenya's public primary school.

"The construction of laboratories will be given priority within the next one year. Primary schools neighbouring secondary schools will share the laboratories and other facilities with junior secondary schools," said Mohamed.

Plans have also been completed on teacher-training.

"The Ministry of Education, Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development and the Teachers Service Commission will work on modalities of fast-tracking retooling teachers to ensure the country has sufficient numbers who are compliant with CBC. Priority will be given to those teachers who will be handling Grade Seven learners," said the State House spokesperson.

Mohamed said the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform has until March 2023 to submit its final report to President William Ruto.

The task force, which was assembled on September 30, 2022, has experts, and is being chaired by Scientist Prof. Raphael Munavu.

The working party has 42 members and seven secretaries.

The taskforce was put in place to, among others, undertake summative evaluation of the competency-based-curriculum and assess and recommend an appropriate structure to implement the competency-based-curriculum.

The Prof. Munavu-led team was also tasked with assessing the examination framework and the quality assurance and standards framework.

The 49 members of the group were also directed to review and recommend a governance and financing framework for TVET training and development, university education, research and training.

The task force was directed to brief President Ruto on the progress of their reviews after every two months.