Basic Education Principal Secretary, Julius Bitok, has disclosed plans to merge school capitation for both primary and junior secondary levels under a single comprehensive funding design, effective next financial year.
Appearing before the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Education during deliberations on the 2026/27 Budget Estimates, Bitok said the move makes sense because primary and junior secondary schools already share infrastructure and management within the same compounds.
“We need a one-school system so that by the end of the day, you don’t separate here and there. You also promote efficiency,” said Bitok.
The PS expounded that the government is now pushing for the establishment of comprehensive schools bringing together primary, junior and senior secondary schools under one institution to centralize management and make better use of available resources.
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The proposal marks a significant policy change under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) and is likely to reignite debates within the education sector, especially among stakeholders who have been pushing for operational autonomy of junior secondary schools.
Since the implementation of JSS, teachers’ unions and the education stakeholders have repeatedly advocated that the institutions should be independent with separate management structures, budgets and staffing systems unique from primary schools.
The argument has largely been built on the sense that JSS represents a transition into secondary education and therefore requires independent administration comparable to traditional high schools. However, the government now seems to be moving in the opposite trajectory.
The move is likely to provoke concerns among JSS teachers, many of whom have been advocating for full recognition as secondary school teachers, complete with independent staffing, laboratories, infrastructure and administration.
By Frank Mugwe
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