Address concerns on merger of studies
By Editorial.Team, January 8, 2024After two months of school break, a new term is starting today.
Learners–right from pre-school to Junior and secondary schools– are transitioning to the next class with very high expectations.
This is the first time in 39 years that there will be no Class Eight, which also means no Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exam at the end of the year as has been the norm.
Perhaps more important is the need to focus on the progress of Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) implementation, with the first class now moving to Grade Eight.
This year also, there will be two classes in junior school, which has had its fair share of challenges.
These range from shortage of teachers to inadequate infrastructure to domiciling and now reduction of subjects.
The Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms recommended that the Ministry of Education should adopt a comprehensive school system, comprising Pre-Primary, Primary and Junior School managed as one institution.
A year later, this has still not settled well for some stakeholders, with the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers insisting that Junior School should be domiciled in secondary as initially intended.
According to the union, there is inadequate staff to teach Junior schools and that primary schools lack critical infrastructure including laboratories, libraries and facilities for extracurricular activities.
And now as the new term starts, it will be a crisis if the nearly 20,000 Junior School teachers make good their threat to call a nationwide strike.
Other than demanding absorption on a permanent and pensionable basis, they have also raised issues with the merger of learning areas as announced by the ministry.
The teachers have said reduction of subjects is welcome but should be carefully implemented because that is bound to increase their already heavy workload. The teachers’ concerns on the merger of learning areas should not be ignored.
For instance, they cite an example of merging pre-technical studies with computer and business, saying this is a wide scope to handle within one lesson of about 40 minutes.
The teachers’ concerns on the merger of learning areas should not be ignored.