By Enock Okong’o
A section of private schools owners in Nyamira County have decried the low number of the Junior Secondary School (JSS) learners who turned up at their Junior Secondary Schools (JSSs).
They attributed it to confusion by the government’s placement policies that led to parents’ reluctance to enroll their children in the institutions.
Led by Jerusah Moraa, a private school Director, they appealed to the Ministry of Education to provide a clear-cut policy governing the placement of JSS students.
“If the policies remain uncertain, there is likely to be a decline of education standards in the country,” she said.
The Director said that her school is one of those that were recommended to host JSS learners but wondered why even her former pupils had not reported.
Asked if parents feared being charged fee balances for the previous year, she refuted and confirmed that her school had even waived all fee balances for the Grade Seven learners.
“We have received 17 pupils only, even after waiving their previous fee balances,” she said.
A survey by Education News revealed that majority of Grade Seven learners in the County enrolled in public JSS schools.
Most head teachers revealed that they were experiencing problems between JSS learners and their colleagues in the lower classes.
“Those in Grade 5 and 6 feel small in primary school uniforms when they see their friends in Grade 7 dress differently,” one school head said.
However, he said those were in-house matters that could be solved with time.
