By Mutuvi Janet
The Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms has recommended that Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) be domiciled in primary schools.
In a report prepared and set to be presented to the President, the 42-member taskforce proposes that learners in Grade 7 and 8 remain in primary school and the section renamed as upper primary.
While speaking to the press, the taskforce chair Prof. Raphael Munavu said that they saw it wise for JSS learners to remain in primary school due to their young age.
“This will be a huge risk for our young learners to interact with aged students in secondary schools and this could contribute to the increase in number of bullying cases and negative influence,” he said.
According to the team, inadequate infrastructure in secondary schools is another issue which could hinder enrolment of JSS learners as most secondary schools are congested.
In addition, they are burdened with shortage of classrooms, teachers and other resources such as laboratories, libraries and dormitories.
The taskforce suggested that Grade Six learners join upper primary where they will have to study for two years before joining junior secondary school.
Through this, it will help to stall the double intake of over 2.5 million Grade Six learners and Standard Eight pupils to secondary schools. It will also enable easy transition of the learners under the 8-4-4 system.
The report also stated that secondary teachers are not fully equipped to handle the young learners since they are used to interact with more mature students.
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