Government approves 13,000 institutions to host JSS

At least 13,221 primary schools had been approved to host Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) as of last Friday.

Education Cabinet Secretary, Ezekiel Machogu yesterday said that a total of 14,589 public and private schools had been assessed as of January 13.

He said there will be adequate space for all Grade Seven learners, noting that over 20,000 schools are expected to meet the threshold for hosting JSS.

“I direct our multi-sectoral teams to work round the clock to ensure they complete the assessment exercise by the January 20 deadline,” said the CS, when he announced the Form One selection results in Nairobi.

The learners joining Grade Seven shall report to their respective Junior Secondary Schools on January 30.

The Ministry is currently carrying out a comprehensive countrywide assessment of all public and private schools to determine their readiness to admit learners to JSS and is set to end this Friday.

The assessment considers, among other factors, whether the respective school has adequate land to host the JSS level, the availability of buildings to be used as classrooms and laboratories; and whether the school has adequate water and power supply.

A school will also be checked whether it is registered on the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS), head teacher qualifications and their area of specialization.

The number of teachers specifically TSC employed, Board of Management and non-teaching staff as well as the number of teachers with diplomas or bachelor’s degrees must be indicated.

The officials assessing should indicate other details like approximate distance to the nearest learning institution namely public primary, private, public secondary, Tvet or if the location is within 300 metres of a liquor selling outlet.

They are to indicate the kind of equipment that schools have like laptops or tablets, projectors, routers, printers or any other.

They should identify whether the school has a room for equipping as a Science room, space for agricultural projects and assorted farm tools, a special room that can be equipped with tools for pre-technical studies as well as an adequate playground or field.

The officials should check whether the school has a special room that can be equipped for one optional subject offered.

The school should be judged as good, fair or poor.                                       

Between 75 and 100 per cent, the school will be graded as good, which means it is recommended for registration to offer a junior school education curriculum as it has met most requirements.

For those that score 50 per cent and 74 per cent, it will be graded as fair to mean that it has met some requirements but a second assessment is required for its registration to offer junior secondary education.

Below 50 per cent will be graded as poor, meaning it has met most of the requirements and has not been recommended for registration to offer the curriculum.