By Education News Reporter
The government has now directed that Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) will be domiciled in current primary schools; with an extra classroom and laboratory to be built in the schools.
This is after the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms submitted its interim report to President Ruto on December 1, 2022.
In a statement to the press dated December 1, 2022, the Statehouse Spokesperson Hussein Mohammed stated that the government has directed that Grades 7, 8 and 9 shall be domiciled in the existing primary schools.
The Ministry of Education will be tasked with providing the necessary guidelines on how it will be done.
The government has further directed that the recently concluded Grade 6 Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) examinations will not be used for placement in JSS but rather as an assessment to monitor learning progress and provide feedback to education sector players on areas that require intervention.
“The construction of laboratories will be given priority within the next one year. Members of Parliament are asked to work towards providing support for the extra facilities. Meanwhile, primary schools neighboring secondary schools will share the laboratories and other facilities with junior secondary schools,” said Mohammed in the statement.
He further said that the government will recruit an additional 30,000 teachers by January 2023 to facilitate the transition and bridge the teacher shortage.
“The Ministry of Education, Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) and the Teachers Service Commission will work on modalities of fast-tracking retooling teachers to ensure the country has sufficient numbers who are compliant with CBC. Priority will be given to those teachers who will be handling Grade 7 learners,” added Mohammed.
The Working Party on Education Reforms led by Prof. Raphael Munavu is expected to hand over its final report to the President in March 2023.
During his inauguration on September 13, 2022 H.E President Dr. Ruto announced plans to review the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) before the Grade 6 pioneer class transits to Junior Secondary School (JSS) – Grade 7.
