Private school owners jittery about investing in CBC junior high

Establishment of the education taskforce to re-evaluate Kenya’s education system, including a preview of the Competent Based Curriculum (CBC) has jolted private sector players’ investments ahead of the January transition to junior secondary school of the pioneer CBC class.

Until September 2022, several established primary school academies had shown interest by applying to the ministry of education for the junior secondary section domiciled within their existing establishment.

 The Ministry of Education has registered tens of academies across the country willing to create that space for the junior secondary. A number of these institutions have been approved by the Kenya national Examination council (KNEC).

 A spot check by Scholar this past week, however, reveals a January transition of the pioneer CBC students to some of these academies may not be feasible as preparatory activities have stalled.

 Infrastructure upgrade has slowed and there are no advertisements for the expected job vacancies. It appears every plan that was deemed appropriate has been upset by the Working Party on Education Reform taskforce.

Alternative friendlier insitutions

President William Ruto in a September 30, 2022 gazette notice formed a 42-member taskforce headed by Prof Raphael Munavu, to evaluate education sector reforms with an eye on the controversial CBC.

Consisting of lawyer, academic and political analyst Prof Collins Odete and celebrated teachers Peter Tabichi and Matheu Kasanga as members, the taskforce has six months to conclude its work, but must submit to the president a bi-monthly progressive report.

 Private players in the education sector had reangled for an opportunity envisaged by secondary school placement pitfalls and congestion in public schools to set up alternative friendlier institutions to accommodate ’fragile’  learners particularly from the academies.

 At least 2.4 million Grade Six and Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) candidates are expected to replace an estimated 800,000 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) who will exit school in December this year. Up to 65 per cent of the secondary spaces available are domiciled in boarding schools. 

 The government has set out to construct 10,000 classrooms for the junior secondary learners; incidentally concentrating the buildings in the existing boarding secondary schools.

 Mid this year, outgoing education cabinet secretary Prof George Magoha challenged private players in education to seize the chance and create space for the 1.28 million transitioning sixth graders.

 George Kamau, a parent of a Grade Six candidate in a private school in Kakamega County says the president’s announcement offers relief as their children were to be used for an expensive experiment.

“After undertaking the secondary school selection exercise, I was convinced that a chance in national or extra county school is not guaranteed and that my son may be safe in junior secondary domiciled in an academy,” he said.

Harsh new environment

He criticised “We were guided to select four secondary schools with a caveat of silent advice; “avoid national and extra county schools. It’s inconceivable to expect tender-age children from private schools to cope in a harsh new environment.”

 He went on, “There’s far too many unanswered questions about the CBC junior secondary school rollout. No guarantees, such as those of Form One admissions, where marks define the school. Here, your child can land in a poor public day school, which you’ve all along avoided.”

 Fifteen private primary schools in Kakamega and Vihiga counties had so far registered junior secondary section, including Kakamega Hill school, Fesbeth Academy, St Anne’s Lubao School, Applegate Christian School in Kakamega county, Shalom Academy, Serve Academy and Mudasa Academy (Vihiga) and Mareli Academy (Bungoma).

Going slow on project

 Meshack Llanziva, a director of St Ann’s Junior School Lubao in Kakamega East Sub-County told Scholar that he had chosen to go slow on the project despite registration.

 Director Selfa Omulisia of Kakamega Hill School said; “We were racing against time. We needed to create space by the close of November, but the goals have shifted, we are waiting for the taskforce nod.”

 She admitted that junior secondary presented an opportunity worth  exploring as the concept involved extending  a Standard Eight child stay for a further one year so that s(he) exits at ninth grade.

 “This school would offer continuity to a foundation we’ve nurtured. We’ve laid safety protection of our learners  from adverse interaction with older teenage learners in public secondary schools until a time the learners are of age,” she explained.

 Omulisia says the junior secondary infrastructure development will resume after the taskforce findings approve the CBC. “We’ve put up laboratory infrastructure, workshops and home science rooms, but this may be of no use if things change,” she observed.

 Fesbeth Academy director Ruth Minishi echoed similar sentiments saying every penny counts adding that it may be costly to plough resources to upgrade structures for a school that would not exist.

 It’s easy to run both primary and junior secondary school alongside each other, because the age difference between the two sets of learners is almost the same. “There is a lot of connectivity between sixth graders and ninth graders,” she said

 “We wanted to explore the opportunity. We responded to concerns of our clients. The public mood was against this curriculum, but now we cannot risk resources unless there are guarantees,” she submitted.