Worry not over junior secondary, Magoha assures parents, learners

Education CS George Magoha addresses teachers and education officials after inspecting CBC classrooms at Nyawara Girls High School in Gem sub-County, Siaya. [Olivia Odhiambo, Standard]

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has exuded confidence on government readiness for Junior secondary.

Magoha said there is no cause for alarm as classrooms, books and desks will be ready by August.

Speaking at Nyawara Girls High School in Siaya County where he inspected CBC classrooms, the CS said the government is doing its best.

“There is no cause for alarm. The government is doing its best. For example, for the books for Grade Seven, the process is ongoing. Grade Six books are being purchased as I talk to you right now and by the end of March they will  have been distributed to all schools,” he said.

“Once that is done, we will now start working on the books for Grade Seven, so before the term of President Uhuru Kenyatta comes to an end assuming that the next president gets to the office in September, we will have left everything in place.”

When asked about the ministry's preparedness for the teachers over the same, he said that the teachers will be ready.

He described Kenyan teachers as fantastic as they have been able to bridge the gap from last year when national examinations happened and students passed and joined universities.

“I can confirm, we have managed to train over 230,000 teachers on CBC and we are now training for senior classes. We already have teachers. We are just teaching them the new methods. In the teacher training institutions, we have taken the first batch of diploma teachers. We will continue to convert them. All we need is availability,” said Magoha.

The CS said there was remarkable progress on the construction of CBC classrooms.

He said that Siaya County, for instance, was given 171 and around 100 out of that number are at the walling stage or are being roofed.

He added that by the end of this month, about 80 percent of classrooms in Siaya County alone will be completed while in Kilifi County, all the 244 classrooms were being built.

The first complete CBC building is in Simerro Secondary School in Ugunja, Siaya County.

“It is all systems go. The government is serious about this CBC so the global picture of having 5400 of those classrooms by the end of March is going to be realised ahead of time,” said Magoha.

For islands like Mageta in Siaya County, the transport cost is high and the Ministry has said it quantified and forwarded the costs to Jogoo House.

“By the time exams start in March, we will have completed the first phase and we will use the same contractors for the second phase so that we don’t waste much time.

"The second phase will start in April. The phase will go for another three months. By the time President Kenyatta and I are going home, we would have left everything in place and the classrooms will be there for the following year,” Magoha said.