The Commission has trained over 200,000 teachers on CBC for the last three years.
Overstaffed Schools will have some teachers transferred to understaffed schools in a move to have equitable distribution and optimal utilization of teachers
The country has a teacher shortage of over 100,000 teachers both in primary and secondary schools.
By Roy Hezron
A total of 60,000 teachers are going to be trained in Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) and Competency Based Assessment (CBA) for Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) immediately after completion of marking of Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations.
Speaking during the release of Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) on 28 March, 2022 Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Nancy Macharia said that the training will commence on 25 April, 2022 to 13 May 2022.
According to Dr. Macharia the teachers will be trained in specific learning areas in Languages, Pure Sciences, Applied Sciences, Mathematics, Humanities and Technical subjects.
“The training will adopt a phased (cascade) model of training that will start at the national level to the county and sub county levels,” said Dr. Macharia.
She noted that the training of teachers for Grade Six will start next month of April with a total of 229,292 teachers being trained for CBC for the last 3 years.
“The TSC has continued to prepare all teachers for the phased implementation of the CBC. So far, we consistently ensured that relevant teachers were trained for all levels including the Grade Six, which will be covered starting next month,” said Dr. Macharia.
The 2021 KCPE class will be the third last group to sit the KCPE examinations under the 8-4-4 education system as the transition to the 2-6-3-3-3 education system draw nearer.
The next lot which entails the current Grade 5 and STD 7 will do the twin tests later this year (between November and December 2022) with the last group which is the current STD 6 set to wrap up the decades-old national examination (KCPE) in November 2023.
The current Grade 5 leaners who are the Pioneer CBC class will sit for their first National Assessment between November and December this year, which will be a summative kind of assessment under the Competency Based Assessment which will replace the current KCPE.
The core learning areas the leaners will be assessed include English, Kiswahili or Kenya Sign Language, Home Science, Agriculture, Science and Technology, Mathematics, Religious Education (Christian, Islamic and Hindu Religious Education), Creative Arts, Physical and Health Education and Social Studies.
The optional subjects (papers) will be Foreign Languages (Arabic, French, German, and Mandarin), Indigenous languages, Kenyan Sign Language and Braille literacy.
These pioneer CBC leaners currently at Grade 5 are expected by the end of their Middle School at Grade 9 in 2025 be able to apply literacy, numeracy and logical thinking skills for appropriate self-expression; communicate effectively, verbally and non-verbally, in diverse contexts; demonstrate social skills, spiritual and moral values for peaceful co-existence; explore, manipulate, manage and conserve the environment effectively for learning and sustainable development.
Practice relevant hygiene, sanitation and nutrition skills to promote health; demonstrate ethical behavior and exhibit good citizenship as a civic responsibility; appreciate the country’s rich and diverse cultural heritage for harmonious co-existence, manage pertinent and contemporary issues in society effectively and apply digital literacy skills for communication and learning.
However, the Commission has announced plans to balance staffing across schools countrywide which according to Dr. Macharia will be done in a human face in efforts to have equitable distribution and optimal utilization of teachers, an exercise that is expected to end by May 9, 2022.
“We have had to review staffing placements to ensure no part of our country is disadvantaged in terms of sharing the limited teaching resources,” said Dr. Macharia.
According to Dr. Macharia, the Commission will direct its field officers to conduct a routine exercise of assessing their sub counties to ensure that all schools have balanced teacher to learner ratios ahead of the start of the new academic calendar in April 25, 2022.
“Any arising movements conducted at the local areas must have a human face and must be well discussed with all relevant offices to ensure equity for all of our learners in tandem with existing staffing norms,” she said.
Dr. Macharia disclosed that there was a shortage of 114,581 teachers in primary and post-primary institutions due to increased enrolment arising from the increasing number of school-age children, the 100 per cent transition policy, registration of new school and natural attrition factors.
The Commission has been recruiting 5,000 teachers annually to match the increased enrolment in public schools.
Learners who will be in Grade 6 in May this year under the 2-6-6-3 CBC and those in Standard 8 of the 8-4-4 education system will concurrently transition to Junior Secondary Grade 7 and Secondary Form 1, respectively; implying that there will be a 27 per cent increase in Secondary School learner population 2023 from 4,381,701 to 6,029,168 and trends of increased transition from Primary School between 2023 and 2025.
The Commission had initially directed its Regional Directors through a memo dated March 11, 2022 to combine and submit data on school performance in National Examinations for the last three years in their respective region immediately after the release of 2021 KCSE, which will include the performance at KCPE and KCSE for all public primary and secondary schools respectively.
The memo which was signed by the acting Director in charge of Staffing Antonina Lentoijoni further directed the RDs to submit the data 15 days after the release of 2021 KCSE results.
“You are required to consolidate data from your regions and submit fifteen days after the release of results for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education 2021,” noted Lentoijoni in the memo.
