Usawa Agenda Executive Director Dr Emmanuel Manyasa has asked President William Ruto to convert the Housing Levy into a school development levy.
In an interview with Citizen TV on its 9pm prime news yesterday, Dr Manyasa said that creating school development levies would facilitate the construction of classrooms and laboratories, especially in sub-county schools.
“This will lead to regional balance in national exams and the construction of laboratories in every sub-county. It will also lead to acquiring the right teachers and proper infrastructure,” he said.
Dr Manyasa noted that the Ministry of Education’s proposal to allocate 20 per cent of the marks to learners in Grade 9 national exams based on performance in the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) is unrealistic.
“Some Learners in Grade 9 didn’t sit for KPSEA exams, wondering where they will acquire the 20 per cent of the marks. The education body should consider school-based assessment, awarding 20 per cent of the marks instead of KPSEA.
Dr Manyasa said learners who did KPSEA were at least 12 years old and were wondering how they could determine their pathways in life at that tender age.
The Usawa Agenda boss said proposals by the education body to allocate 50 per cent of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) courses to learners were unrealistic, noting that most junior schools were assigned STEM teachers in January 2025, adding that such schools need only one pathway in humanities.
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“Taking STEM as a career pathway may put hefty responsibility on learners that is full of risks and pressure on parents; thus, there is a need to take one pathway that is accommodative.
For the first time, JSS learners have experienced lab equipment tailored to specific paths. Due to infrastructure challenges, the government pledged to build laboratories to support learners.
The placement of learners in Grade 10 will depend on their choices, merit, psychometric tests, equity, and school capacity.
When selecting schools, learners will choose seven for the first-choice pathway, three for the second-choice pathway, and two for the third-choice pathway.
Senior schools include day schools, which have triple and double pathways; hybrid schools, which also have triple and double pathways; vocational schools; and special needs schools.
By Godfrey Wamalwa
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