By Roy Hezron
The Ministry of Education has released new guidelines on the registration of basic education institutions, 16 months before the pioneer Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) class joins Junior Secondary Schools (JSSs) at Grade 7.
The new guidelines prepared by the Ministry’s Director of Quality Assurance and Standards (QAS) Dr. Mary Gaturu are a review of the existing guidelines on registration of basic education institutions that were developed in 2010.
The reviews have been made in line with Basic Education Act of 2013 and Basic Education Curriculum Framework of 2017 at a momentous time when the Country is transforming its education and training from 8-4-4 system to 2-6-6-3 system.
The new guidelines will seek to ensure that in densely populated areas, the distance between 2 day primary or secondary schools and 2 boarding primary or secondary schools is not less than 600m.
To establish a new public primary institution in densely populated areas, the nearest existing public primary school should have at least two (2) streams with a minimum population of 480 learners. For a new public secondary school, the nearest existing public secondary school should have attained three streams with a minimum population of 540 learners.
Tuition facilities in Junior Secondary
According to the new guidelines, classrooms in JSSs will accommodate a maximum of 45 learners while for learners in Special Schools taking regular curriculum with adaptations, the total number of learners per class shall be a maximum of 12 for Hearing Impaired, 10 Visually Impaired, 20 Physically Impaired, 10 Cerebral Palsy and 5 Mild Autism. Learners with severe disabilities should be between 1 to 5 per class.
The schools will be required to have relevantly equipped science laboratories, workshops, Art and Craft room, libraries ,a computer laboratory, a Home Science room, a language room, a music room and an Agriculture workshop each accommodating a maximum of 45 learners.
One agriculture demonstration plot should measure at least 4metres by 3metres per group of 15 learners.
The schools will also be required to have playgrounds for ball games which include soccer, rugby, netball, handball, hockey, basketball and volleyball; Racket Games which include lawn tennis, badminton, table tennis; and Athletics, whose dimensions may vary at the international level and which will apply in all Physical Education (PE) facilities.
They will also be required to have a games storage room and a water point whereby only one tap will be required to serve only 25 learners. Other sports facilities like swimming pools and gymnastic rooms will be optional for schools.
Transition dilemma
With only 16 months left before the pioneer class of CBC joins JSSs, concerns have been raised concerning whether or not the guidelines set will be followed while setting up the JSSs. The level of preparedness for secondary schools transiting from 8-4-4 has also been questioned.
According to CBC report on Enhancing Access, Relevance, Transition, Equity and Quality for Effective Curriculum Reforms Implementation released by the President early this year, the CBC taskforce recommended that JSSs (Grades 7, 8 and 9) be included in the secondary education level.
This decision was informed by the fact that learners can only deepen their understanding of CBC in JSSs and choose pathways and tracks to follow in Senior Secondary Schools since primary schools lack the human resource and infrastructural capacity to facilitate the expected depth of engagement with the JSS CBC content.
The move to incorporate Grades7-9 at secondary level will also optimize teacher utilization as they will teach at both junior and senior secondary school levels
The taskforce also recommended that primary schools with enough infrastructure should be converted to JSSs. Primary schools that are in close proximity and which have few students will also be merged and the vacant primary school converted to a JSS.
The incorporation of JSSs into secondary levels will see a 27% increase in the number of secondary school students from 4,381,701 to 6,029,168 as Grade 5 pupils in CBC and class 7 pupils in 8-4-4 system will be joining secondary schools.
Schools will require significant preparation in terms of infrastructure, teacher training and development of teaching and learning content as well as re-assessment for purposes of re-registration.
Already, principals have warned that the current congestion in secondary schools will reach crisis levels unless urgent measures are taken.
Shs 1 billion has been allocated to CBC implementation to train teachers and Shs 4.2 billion has been allocated to improve infrastructure in primary and secondary schools.
