The junior school matter, as it stands, is on the brink of miscarriage before the Head of State. What was intended to be a smooth bridge between primary and senior secondary has instead exposed cracks in planning, coordination, and execution. A reform launched with hope now wobbles under the weight of poor communication, inadequate resources, and competing interests within government and the education sector.
When the issue was placed before the President, it became clear that the country’s education managers were not speaking in one voice. On one side were those pushing for junior school to remain under primary institutions; on the other were groups demanding full autonomy, complete with independent staffing and governance. In the crossfire stood thousands of teachers, uncertain about their deployment, and millions of learners, unsure whether they truly belong where they are.
This disunity is not a small matter. Education is the one sector where consistency is sacred. Every contradiction from leaders filters down to schools and confuses the very people the system is meant to serve. Parents are left anxious, teachers feel abandoned, and learners quietly lose faith in reforms that were supposed to inspire them.
The infrastructure question only deepens the wound. Many schools hosting junior secondary learners lack laboratories, libraries, and even enough classrooms. In some rural areas, learners study under trees or in overcrowded halls. Without urgent government intervention, the promise of competency-based learning will remain a dream too far.
Even more pressing is the teacher question. For months, junior school teachers have cried out for recognition, better terms, and clear career progression. They were promised opportunities to grow within the new system. Yet, many remain stuck between commissions and ministries that cannot agree on who should handle them. This has bred frustration and dampened morale. A reform without motivated teachers is a reform destined to fail.
Complicating the picture further is the scramble for the administration of funds meant for junior school. Various agencies, boards, and county offices are all seeking a piece of the pie. Yet, this scramble is happening without a clear curriculum roadmap. Money is being allocated and re-allocated without firm guidance on how it ties to the actual learning needs of learners. The result is a dangerous vacuum where financial battles overshadow curriculum development. Instead of focusing on what children should learn and how best to equip them for the future, the conversation is increasingly about who controls the purse strings.
But perhaps the most troubling reality is the open ambition of some primary school heads, who are aggressively pushing for junior school to remain under their institutions. For many, the motivation is not about educational outcomes but the personal perks that come with power. They see JSS as a convenient ladder to secure promotion, allowances, and a higher status in the education hierarchy. This naked scramble for prestige is dangerous. It risks turning a delicate reform into a battlefield of self-interest, where the child’s welfare is sacrificed at the altar of career advancement.
A telling case comes from parts of the Rift Valley, where reports show primary school heads lobbying county education offices to be recognised as official administrators of JSS funds. In one sub-county, head teachers even formed informal committees to pressure the Teachers Service Commission to channel junior school staffing budgets through their offices. Their argument is simple: control over junior school means bigger responsibilities, and bigger responsibilities mean promotions. Yet this lobbying has nothing to do with the quality of teaching or whether learners are receiving proper guidance under the new curriculum. It is a turf war driven by status, not substance.
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The scale of discontent was evident when more than ten thousand teachers from different parts of the republic converged in solidarity at forums and rallies. Their sheer numbers were a reminder that the fate of junior school is not an abstract policy matter; it is the lived reality of educators who feel stranded in a system without clarity. Many carried placards demanding respect for their role, and others appealed for promotions and fair pay. At the same time, a significant number simply pleaded: “Tell us where we belong.”
As if this chaos was not enough, the public debate sank lower when KUPPET Secretary General Mr. Okello Misori was heckled during a forum. That moment exposed the worst instincts of union politics. It was not a show of strength, but of weakness. Teachers’ unions, who should be guardians of professional dignity, embarrassed themselves before the nation. By shouting down a colleague instead of challenging him with facts, KNUT members squandered a chance to prove their intellectual and moral leadership.
The grievances against KUPPET are not baseless. Differences in approach are natural. But to resort to heckling is to cheapen the debate and to insult the very profession whose voice carries weight only when spoken with reason and respect. At a time when learners and parents are desperate for clarity, unions cannot afford to behave like noisy mobs. The only legitimate weapon in this fight is evidence: data on teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms, collapsing infrastructure, and the frustrations of JSS teachers caught in limbo.
Fortunately, the situation did not spiral further. The Principal Secretary for Basic Education stepped in decisively to restore order. His intervention calmed tempers and ensured the debate continued without degenerating into chaos. For a moment, reason replaced noise, and the conversation shifted back to the reforms that urgently need attention.
Still, the episode served as a warning sign. If junior school is mishandled, the nation risks losing not only billions of shillings already invested but also the confidence of an entire generation of learners. For the Head of State, the challenge now is to rise above the noise. The government must present a unified national strategy, backed by adequate resources and clear timelines. The President must insist that the best interests inform decisions of learners rather than politics, bureaucracy, or personal turf wars.
And here lies the hard truth: if both KUPPET and KNUT are scrambling to control junior secondary, then it is prudent for all to lose. JSS must be allowed to stand alone—independent of union dominance, free from the ambitions of primary school heads, and shielded from bureaucratic tug-of-war.
If allowed to chart its own course, junior school could become a bold, self-contained pillar of Kenya’s education system. It would have its own governance structures, clear accountability, and an independent budget line dedicated to learners’ needs. Teachers within JSS would be recognised as a distinct professional cadre, with transparent career paths and fair opportunities for growth. Schools would be built not as extensions of primary blocks, but as purpose-designed spaces for adolescents, with science laboratories, ICT hubs, and libraries tailored to their stage of development. Most importantly, the curriculum would be designed and overseen by a unit within KICD focused solely on junior learners, ensuring a smooth transition to senior school and beyond.
Such a vision would lift JSS above the noise of politics and self-interest. It would remind all players—teachers, unions, and government—that the reform was never about power, prestige, or funds. It was about the child. If realised, it would not only rescue junior schools from their current turbulence but also secure their place as a beacon of educational transformation in Kenya.
Anything less will condemn it to permanent confusion. Anything less will prove that the scramble was never about learners, but about control. The Head of State now carries the burden of ensuring that this reform is remembered not as another miscarriage, but as the moment Kenya chose the child over politics.
By Hillary Muhalya
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