The government has set a uniform fee of Ksh 53, 000 for all senior boarding schools as annual standard fees, doing away with the categorization of schools based on infrastructure and location.
In the new guidelines released by the Ministry of Education, the new setup will see all secondary schools, which will be re-registered as senior schools, classified on the same level, charging a standard fee.
Learners who have already selected their preferred schools based on their career paths will be placed in either public or private, boarding, day, or hybrid schools.
The move however is likely to shift the burden to parents of learners in what were previously county and sub-county schools that paid significantly less.
The guideline also revealed that the grade ten learners will take seven subjects, including core learning areas of English, Kiswahili, and core or essential mathematics, depending on whether the learner is pursuing STEM, arts, or humanities.
A new concept, community service learning, will also be introduced. The other three subjects will be determined by the pathway chosen by the learner.
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In the new layout, learners will be required to have eight lessons, each lasting 40 minutes per day, and a total of 40 per week.
The core subjects will be taught as single lessons only, while the other subjects will have one double lesson per week.
Safety of learners in and out of school has also been addressed, with boarding schools instructed never to send unaccompanied learners away from school after 9am and to ensure that learners in boarding schools arrive no later than 5pm.
Further changes in the outlook of senior schools include the introduction of financial audits of school accounts.
School administrations will be expected to establish audit committees that work with internal auditors to review and monitor financial performance, ensuring ongoing compliance with financial policies.
The role of parents and learners themselves in the governance of senior schools has also been emphasised, with parents and teachers’ associations and student councils incorporated into school administration.
The ministry, however, says it will release the senior school placement guidelines for grade nine learners once the outcome of their just-concluded national assessment is known.
This comes a day after the completion of the grade 9 KJSEA exams which ended on Monday November 3, paving way for preparation the grade 10 senior school transition in 2026.
By Juma Ndigo
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