Magoha castigates private schools over junior secondary classrooms

Education CS Prof George Magoha in Gatundu South, Kiambu County. [Fidelis Kabunyi, Standard]

Education CS Prof George Magoha has asked private schools to speed up construction of junior secondary school classrooms to align with implementation of Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).

Speaking at Ituuru Boys High School in Gatundu South yesterday, Prof Magoha said many private schools lagged behind in construction of the additional classrooms, yet plans to fully roll out the CBC programme were in top gear. 

“I urge private schools to get serious and invest in junior secondary schools. I am not seeing much construction and they only need to construct one extra classroom because they already have two,” said the CS.

He urged the schools to fast-track the programme so that the classrooms can be inspected.

In February, Prof Magoha said the government would approve proposals from private schools that would like to start junior secondary schools. 

The CS, who toured six secondary schools in Gatundu South, cited Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Eldoret as areas with high concentration of private schools. 

At the same time, Prof Magoha said teachers handling Grade Seven and Eight will be the first batch to undergo the CBC training. “So as to move forward towards 2023, we need to have enough teachers on the ground and it will be a continuous process with training scheduled for August and December,” the CS told journalists. 

Prof Magoha said 5,000 junior secondary school classrooms had been constructed countrywide, with Northern Kenya having completed 100 per cent of the classrooms.

Nyanza stands at 97 per cent with the CS being optimistic works will be completed by the end of this week.

“We are approaching 90 per cent of the classrooms being completed in the country. We were slowed down by the examination process and now that the exams are completed, we want to marshal everybody so that we deliver the 6,497 classrooms before the end of this month in time for us to start phase two of the junior secondary classrooms by July,” noted Prof Magoha. 

He said the ministry targets to complete 10,000 classrooms by end of July, as per President Mr Uhuru Kenyatta’s directive. “Whoever takes over the government after elections is also expected to construct another 10,000 classrooms which will be the balance,” added Prof Magoha.

He announced that marking of KCSE exams was ongoing, and that the results were likely to be out before schools reopen later this month.