Get ready for toughest academic year, teachers and learners told

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

The 2022 education calendar is expected to be one of the toughest. There will be five national examinations in primary and secondary schools amid rising Covid-19 cases and heightened political temperature.

Yesterday, Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha said teachers would be critical to the successes of the exams and taming cases of arson attacks in schools before the end of the year.

The CS said all five national exams have already been set.

In 2022, there will be two Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams and a Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC) for Grade Six learners in primary schools.

The second last 8-4-4 learners will sit for KCPE examinations in March 2022, while the last batch of the 8-4-4 pupils will sit for the KCPE exams in December after a new government is in place.

Meanwhile, in the secondary schools, the students currently in Form Four will do their KCSE in March 2022, while those in Form Three will sit the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam in December, the same year.

"I besiege you to do all your best to perform your role as Centre Managers for two KCPE and one Grade Six examination. We count on you to deliver as you have always done," said Magoha.

The CS made the remarks during the official opening of the Kenya Primary School Headteachers Association (KEPSHA) 17th annual delegates conference in Mombasa.

He said school heads represent a critical mass of stakeholders with a compelling contribution to Kenya's development through education.

"I'll make sure we deliver even if I'm there or not... I'll make sure all the examinations for 2022 are all ready," said the CS.

KEPSHA chairman Johnson Nzioka said one of the biggest challenges the teachers are facing in the implementation of the CBC had been the assessments.

"We are working with Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) to make sure that assessments that are supposed to be done by in Grade 4, 5 and 6 are executed well and results filed," said Nzioka.

KEPSHA chairman Johnson Nzioka presents a gift to Education CS George Magoha, December 28, 2021. [Omondi Onyango, Standard]

He said other challenges include streamlining the teachers' transfers, teachers' capacity, funding to schools and gaps experienced when learners transfer.

Teachers also raised fears that the delay in the disbursement of funds to schools could worsen due to the State's bloated budget because of preparation for elections.

But the CS said funds to run public schools across the country will be released next week. He said he had raised the concern with the Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani.

He noted that all primary schools would receive the second batch of funds for desks.

Magoha, who spoke at Sheikh Khalifa Welfare in Mombasa, decried cases of arson attacks in schools.

"Indiscipline students should be kept out of schools and will only be allowed to sit for exams outside the schools," said Magoha.

He also noted that the Covid-19 pandemic posed a great challenge in the sector.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has caused untold disruption in all sectors, the main one being that of education. With the school closure last year, teachers have borne the brunt of the pressure that comes with the compressed school terms," he said.

On infrastructure, Magoha said he will demand an increase in the funding of schools in the 2022/23 budget to address the problem of the shortage of desks and classrooms.

"We are in the process of rolling out the exercise of constructing classrooms in schools that are needed to accommodate the CBC rollout," said Magoha.