Barely six months before the first batch of learners under the Competency-Based Curriculum transit to Grade Nine, the process has been thrown into confusion, with various players entangled in a debate over where it should be domiciled.

Secondary school principals and a teachers’ union are pushing to have junior secondary split into two and be based in primary and secondary schools. They say Grade Seven should remain in primary section while Grades Eight and Nine move to secondary school. This would be a significant departure from the government’s current approach, where all the three junior secondary school classes (Grades Seven, Eight and Nine) are domiciled in primary school, notwithstanding the deep-rooted challenges that have never been addressed.

The adoption of JSS has been plagued by numerous problems, from an acute shortage of qualified teachers and inadequate classrooms to lack of science labs and libraries. Many teachers assigned to JSS are either teaching for the first time and thus taking time to adjust or lack subject mastery in the areas they are tasked to handle due to a lack of enough teachers.

The government’s decision to rely heavily on intern teachers to implement CBC at the junior secondary level has not helped matters either. The general feeling among educationists is that due to inadequate resources and infrastructure in primary schools, Grades Eight and Nine learners should be moved to secondary schools that are well endowed to accommodate them.

By January, classrooms and other facilities now being used by Form Ones would be empty and could be taken over by Grades Eight or Nine learners. Domiciling JSS in primary school will also have learners in the same institution for up to 11 years, leaving pupils ill-prepared for university.

Grade Nine learners are expected to be at a crucial stage of laying the foundation for their future success, happiness and meaning as they decide what career paths to take. This is the time learners are expected to encounter important matters such as managing their time wisely, focusing on their studies, balancing extracurricular activities, and contemplating their aspirations for the future.

The government should therefore move swiftly to end the confusion surrounding where Grade Nine will be domiciled so as to enable parents and guardians to plan adequately.