Ministry of Education to Move Grade 9 to Secondary Schools

Ministry of Education to Move Grade 9 to Secondary Schools

Ministry of Education to Move Grade 9 to Secondary Schools

Students in grade nine may transfer to secondary schools starting from next year as the government looks for solutions to the problems plaguing  junior secondary schools (JSS). Since the first students under the Competency-Based Curriculum transferred to JSS, there have been numerous severe setbacks, including a shortage of teachers, inadequate training, and a lack of classrooms, libraries, and labs.

The government may be able to save JSS if secondary schools with equipped labs, libraries, and empty classrooms that will become available once this year’s KCSE candidates go.

Government sources stated that a drastic change in how the new level of learning is implemented is necessary due to the rigorous expectations for Grade Nine and the growing number of pupils pursuing professional routes.The decision, if approved, will support the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers’ (Kuppet) suggestions that Grade Nine should be transferred to a high school and only Grades Seven and Eight remain in primary school.

According to Kuppet, the Junior Secondary School’s one-year implementation should be abandoned since it has been “terribly corrupted” and beset by a number of issues.”While primary schools are having difficulties, secondary schools have a lot of underutilized resources. In an interview with The, Kuppet Secretary General Akello Misori stated, “These include trained teachers and infrastructure.”

The union also cited an acute shortage of qualified teachers in junior secondary schools as one of the challenges affecting JSS.According to Kuppet, many teachers assigned to Junior School are either teaching for the first time thus taking time to adjust, or lack subject mastery in the areas they are tasked to handle due to shortage of teachers.

The union said this has created a chaotic learning environment.Kuppet officials also alleged discontent among JSS teachers due to poor pay, and recommended a comprehensive assessment of JSS.A spot-check glaring the struggles of learners, teachers and inefficiencies of the new level of education with fears that the situation might deteriorate if not arrested in time.

The spot-check involved a one-hour-long immersion into the world of a State-sponsored Junior Secondary School at the Donholm Comprehensive School.The visit offered a stark window into the bumpy reality behind this ambitious educational reform.While the enthusiasm of both teachers and students was palpable, congestion, limited resources/facilities, and inadequate teachers painted a different picture.This creates a stark contrast between the ideal situation in a JSS class versus the reality.

Johnson Nzioka, the headteacher of Donholm Comprehensive School revealed that the institution has some 750 learners in JSS.Out of this, 415 are Grade 8 learners– the pioneer class of the CBC– distributed in five streams and another 335 learners in Grade 7 are split into seven streams.

Overcrowding and congestion are evident when we get to our first class visit to one of the five Grade 8 streams. It is labeled 8s.The classroom was filled to the brim and there was barely any visible space left to walk to the back of the class.The only visible aisle between the lockers was the length of the palm.The learners barely had any space to leave their seats let alone allow a teacher to walk around the classroom, thus stuck at the front of the classroom.The development is a stark contrast to a private institution, Damacrest School in Thogoto.

The learners in Junior Secondary School here are about 250; with Grade 8 accounting for 130 and the remaining 120 are 7th graders.The classrooms accommodate not more than 30 learners making the classes well-spaced with an aisle of about a foot apart.The teacher seemingly can freely walk through the classroom.The school also enjoys an elaborate science laboratory fully equipped and a full-time laboratory technician.The computer laboratory has more than 20 computers and the school head indicates that all are working.

Reports from across Kenya paint a similar picture: overcrowded classrooms, understaffed schools, and a lack of learning materials for practical subjects. While the CBC emphasizes critical thinking and problem-solving, the reality in many public schools like Donholm is improvisation and struggle.

On January 15, the Ministry of Education stated that the government had allocated Sh3.9 billion for the construction of an additional 15,021 classrooms for Junior Secondary School (JSS) by 2025 to accommodate the first-grade 9 learners.

According to Ezekiel Machogu, cabinet secretary for education, the World Bank would contribute an additional Sh9 billion to the construction of 9,000 classrooms. He said that in order to ensure that the classrooms are operational by 2025, help will also come from the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NGCDF). He declared, “We are taking action to make sure that our schools have the resources they require so that faculty and students can collaborate in a positive environment.”