No textbooks, lack of teachers dampen learning for pioneer Junior Secondary School students

Grade 7 learners at Migosi Primary School in Kisumu county after receiving textbooks from Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development. [Collins Oduor, Standard]

Pioneer Junior Secondary School (JSS) learners continue to grapple with a lack of enough teachers and textbooks in most public schools.

Unlike private schools, most public schools are yet to start teaching some of the subjects due to the failure of the Ministry of Education to distribute textbooks to the learning institutions.

So bad is the situation that some schools have only received textbooks for a single learning area, prompting learners to revise what they learnt in primary schools to keep them engaged in class.

This has left most education officials, especially in rural areas, shy to talk about the challenges and prefer the Ministry of Education to give information on the challenges facing public schools.

A spot check by The Standard established that most schools had two to three newly recruited teachers deployed by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) as interns or on a permanent basis. Most schools have only received textbooks for three subjects.

At Nyamachaki Primary in Nyeri, 198 students in JSS have been divided into three streams. Deputy head teacher in charge of academics, Ms Grace Murithi, said that the school had only received textbooks for three subjects out of the 14 subjects.

She added that TSC had posted only six teachers to the junior secondary. "Primary school teachers are forced to assist in some classes in junior secondary since the population is high and the six teachers cannot manage 14 lessons daily in three classes," she noted.

Each class hosts more than 50 students, leading to congestion. More parents have opted to send their children to public schools due to the high cost of living.

A few metres away is Consolata Primary School, a Catholic-sponsored private school. The situation is different here due to spacious classrooms accommodating 47 students in their JSS section.

Headteacher Timothy King'ori said the school was prepared in advance, with the classes and laboratories ready. "We started preparation immediately when the government announced that Junior Secondary will be domiciled in primary schools. What was remaining was the curriculum because we cannot use our own," Mr Kingori said.

He added that since the school is private, the government does not provide books, hence the school sources books from the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KCID). "In line with equipping the students well, we have introduced foreign languages to the students, including German. This would add value to our students," he said.

At Technology Primary School, the stakeholders said they were comfortable with the learning after receiving textbooks for 11 subjects.

Headmistress Beatrice Wachira said they have 176 students in four classes, with more teachers expected.

At Vidhu Ramji JSS, there were 178 learners with four graduate teachers.

Headteacher Michael Wamwaki said the government had sent eight textbooks to each learner.

"We are waiting for the rest of the textbooks but we are comfortable with what we have received from the Ministry of Education," said the headteacher.

At Mariira Day and Boarding Primary School, the TSC has posted four teachers to handle the 154 students.

Headteacher John Chege said learners were supplied with four textbooks out of the expected 14.

At Kiria-Ini Primary School in Mathioya, head teacher Kinyua Mathenge said they received three textbooks per student and had two teachers.

"Our enrollment is 66 students, and we are waiting for 11 more sets of textbooks," said Kinyua.

At Kiangati Primary School in Murang'a East sub-county, the government has posted one teacher for the enrolled 29 students. Headteacher Johnson Mwangi said they have received textbooks for seven subjects.

Murang'a County Kuppet Executive Secretary Mburu Mwangi described the JSS as a flop.

In Migori County, The Standard established that most book suppliers and publishers the government is relying on to deliver the books are yet to be paid their dues.

A book supplier told The Standard in confidence that the government is dragging its feet in paying the suppliers hence the crisis. "Suppliers have not been paid and that is the reason there is a shortage of books in JSS schools," said a supplier.

A spot check by The Standard across schools in Kisumu, Migori, Homa Bay and Siaya established that several learning areas in the new curriculum remain untouched even as learning enters the third month.

At Muslim Primary and Junior Secondary Schools, only English, Mathematics, Life Skills and Agriculture textbooks have been supplied by the government. Hamisi Musa, the acting principal and the headteacher, said teachers were now photocopying specific pages of some learning materials they downloaded online, and are using them to teach the learners on the remaining nine learning areas.

Migori Primary and JSS head teacher and acting principal Moses Maranda confirmed they had also received textbooks for the five learning areas. The school, which has 421 learners in the JSS section, received 356 textbooks per learning area.

He noted that they had downloaded textbooks for 14 subjects to avoid disruption of learning as they wait for the government to supply them with the textbooks.

At Rabuor Primary School in Kisumu County, only Agriculture textbooks have been supplied to the institution.

At Ngere Kwabwai Junior Secondary School in Ndhiwa Sub-county, the school has received textbooks for only three out of 14 learning areas. The available textbooks are English, Life Skills Education and Agriculture.

Headteacher Dismas Achacha said teachers improvise to get content for teaching.

"Our teachers use the internet and locally improvised teaching aids to get content for teaching the students," Mr Achacha said.

The school has only two teachers. One is handling Kiswahili and CRE while the other is teaching Business Studies and History.

She added that the school has challenges in learning areas such as Visual Arts, Performing Arts and Music which they lack teachers and books.

A deputy head teacher at a school with two Grade Seven streams in Kuresoi North has three intern teachers, while three others were to transition to the JSS from the host primary school.

Rift Valley Regional Director for Education Milton Nzioka said that the ministry was doing its best to ensure the books were delivered to all public schools this week.

(Reports by Kennedy Gachuhi, Anne Atieno, James Omoro, Harold Odhiambo, Purity Mwangi and Boniface Gikandi)