By John Majau
Education stakeholders in Tharaka Nithi County want the Junior Secondary School (JSS) in the Competence Based Curriculum (CBC) system of education to be domiciled in primary school and renamed Senior Primary.
In their submissions to the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms at Chuka University on Friday, they argued that Grade Six pupils were very young and needed direct care and supervision from their parents.
They also argued that with the government’s 100 per cent transition policy, secondary schools were already straining with inadequate infrastructure and the double intake expected in January 2023 would be unbearable.
The county Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Executive Secretary, Njeru Mutani said that a spot check conducted by teachers revealed that secondary school students were not ready to welcome the Grade Six learners and wanted them to remain in primary school.
The Grade Six pupils are set to sit for their national assessment from November 28, 2022 in order to proceed to JSS next year if there will be no changes effected on the curriculum.
“We have been resisting taking Grade Six pupils to secondary school since 2017 but the government chose to ignore us,” said Mr Mutani.
Chuka University Academic Staff Union (UASU) Secretary-General, Thomas Motindi said the transition from senior secondary to university under CBC is expected in 2029 yet the university curriculum is yet to be revised in line with CBC.
He stated that the enrollment of universities is expected to more than double in 2029 from the current 510,000 to 1.2 million which would overstretch the already strained infrastructure.
“If CBC is to be implemented, the government will have to increase budget allocation for universities for infrastructural development and also revise the university curriculum,” said Mr Motindi.
Tharaka Nithi County Director of Education, Ms Bridget Wambua said the government needs to employ more officers to man the implementation of CBC noting that all departments were currently understaffed.
She added that the county was struggling with only one vehicle in every sub-county and very few drivers making it almost impossible to move from one station to another.
“I have one vehicle that is currently grounded and sometimes in good condition but there is no driver,” said Ms Wambua.
Chuka Jamia Mosque Imam Abdinasir Mugambi said CBC was too expensive and time consuming thus it should be revised.
He said some parents were not able to help their children in doing assignments as required and some do not even have money to buy the required materials.
“CBC is too expensive and some learners will be disadvantaged because not all parents are able to help them in doing academic assignments as required,” said Mr. Mugambi.
He added that management of Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) should be transferred from the county to the national government.
Mugambi noted that with 10 years of devolution, ECDE pupils were still learning under trees and in dilapidated classes in some schools and the quality of education was very poor.
Mr. Joseph Rutere, a special needs teacher said that the curriculum had very little on learners with special needs and that they should be considered while in the reviews.
