Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang on April 3 put to an end the debate on where Grade Nine will be domiciled, insisting it will remain in primary school.
He also said that 93 per cent of Kenyans decided through the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform (PWPER) that junior school be domiciled in primary school.
Kipsang dismissed reports that Grade 9 will be moved to secondary school.
“The definition of junior schools is Grades 7, 8 and 9 and we are not about to change that because we do not even have any way or a window to change it.
“If 93 per cent of Kenyans said it, then how can we wake up in the morning and have something else? It is not anything in discussion, Grade 9 will be in the current place that junior school is domiciled and we all know where that is,” said Kipsang.
He spoke at Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) during the stakeholder engagement on senior school curriculum.
The PS assured that the State is committed to ensure a seamless transition of learners to higher education level and the world of work as well.
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“We may not have had an opportunity to do what we are doing when we were transiting to junior school but I can assure you that we will be better prepared both in engaging with our teachers and learners to appreciate what they are expecting as they move forward,” said Kipsang.
According to the PS, Grade 9 will be both summative and formative assessment just like Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) in Grade 6.
And added that assessment at Grade 9 will not prevent learners from progressing and it is at Grade 12 that both placement and certification will take place.
He added, “At Grade 12, it will be both placement and certification while at Grade 9 it is purely transition from one level to the next because it is just preparing our children to know where they are they going to – Sciences, Humanities or Creative.”
On his part, KICD Chief Executive Prof Charles Ong’ondo said that CBC is structured in such way that learners spend two years in Pre-Primary, six years in primary, three years in junior school, and another three years in senior school, hence 2-6-3-3 structure.
“The years have to match the development milestones of the children who are the targets of the learning system,” Ong’ondo previously explained.
By our reporter
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