It’s massive test for schools over Grade 7 spacing

The government has embarked on a rigorous process to assess the suitability of primary schools to admit Junior Secondary School (JSS) learners ahead of the opening of the institutions in two weeks.

Assessment will adopt a Rapid Results Initiative model that will bring together officials from the Ministries of Education and Interior, Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and National Government Administration Officers (NGAO).

In a circular dated January 6, Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang said the assessment starts today and end on January 20, three days before the new academic year begins.

Neither public nor private schools will be spared from the rigorous tests that will determine which institutions will be allowed to host JSS and which ones will be locked out.

If enforced, the results of the tests will result in some schools being denied clearance to host the pioneer Grade Seven class. Only those that score 50 per cent of the marks and above will be cleared and registered to offer the JSS curriculum.

“In order to establish the readiness of our schools to receive and admit the Grade Seven learners, the Ministry of Education has scheduled a countrywide assessment of all the public and private schools,” says the circular addressed to all regional, county and sub-county directors of education.

A multi-agency approach will be used to administer the tests, with a detailed report to be submitted to the Director-General of Education, Elias Abdi, by January 23, the day schools open and one week after the release of the Grade Six national examination results.

The government has already indicated that the results will not be used to determine which learner goes to which school. However, it expects all who sat the exam to proceed to Grade Seven.

Kipsang said Abdi will coordinate assessment at national level while regional, county and sub-county directors will take charge in their respective jurisdictions. “The purpose of this circular is to draw your attention to the scheduled activity in which you will be expected to play a key role and ask you to work with other Government agencies like NGAO and TSC Secretariat to ensure seamless transition from primary education to junior secondary education,” the PS said.

Among other things, education directors have been tasked to train school managers on the ministry’s guidelines on how to run JSS centres besides ensuring that all Grade Six candidates transition to Grade Seven.

Percentage score

A checklist from the ministry, which the People Daily has seen, indicates a school’s final percentage score on the Scoring Guide will determine which institution will get the green light to offer Grade 7 classes.

All the officers who administer the test will be required to sign the completed score card and prepare a detailed report that they must submit to Abdi on the day schools open for first term.

This directive is likely to put pressure on the education officials, who have less than two weeks to carry out the tests and submit the reports. It is also likely to pile pressure of schools that have not fully complied to do so to ensure they are not denied registration.

Among others, the report should indicate whether or not a school is ready to admit JSS learners, how far it is from the nearest primary school and how many students it can admit. Institutions that lack capacity will be designated as feeder schools.

“In the context of the JSS transition, feeder school refers to a primary school that lacks the enrolment and/or infrastructural capacity to domicile a JSS. In such cases, the ministry will transfer the learners to a neighbouring JSS or implement appropriate affirmative action to ensure 100 per cent transition,” the guidelines say. 

JSS feeder schools will be designated as those in high-density areas and urban slums with an enrolment of less than 45 learners. Those lacking basic facilities to host a JSS will also serve as Feeder Schools to JSS centres within a two-kilometre radius.

In low density and insecurity-prone areas, as well as for learners with special needs and disability, the government will implement affirmative action as appropriate, regardless of how many learners a school has. That means schools in such areas will automatically be registered as JSS institutions due to the challenges they face.

Examinations are required to capture data indicating whether an institution is a boys, girls or mixed school, boarding, day or mixed day and boarding school. The data will also capture a school’s enrollment as per third term of 2022 on all levels, starting from pre-primary.

Other requirements

The officials should also check if the school is registered on National Education Management Information System, if the head teacher is duly qualified and their area of specialisation. The number of teachers, specifically TSC-employed, Board of Management and non-teaching staff should also be provided. The number of teachers with diploma or bachelors degree must be indicated.

The test will also check if the school is within 300 metres of a liquor-selling outlet among other requirements, such as the kind of equipment that the school has, like laptops or tablets, projectors, routers and printers that can be used to facilitate learning.

The physical infrastructure of the school must be captured and some of the areas to be covered here is whether the institutions have approvals from relevant authorities like the county government, Nema and National Construction Authority.

Besides these, 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 adequate space for a playground or sports field.

According to the detailed checklist, schools should also have suitable furniture, safe and adequate water supply and sanitation facilities for both teachers and learners. This is in addition to adequate cooking and dining areas and qualified food handlers.

To qualify, a school must also have facilities friendly to persons with disabilities. Officials will use three grades to assess a school; good, fair or poor.

A score of between 75 and 100 per cent will mean that the school will be graded as good, which in turn means it will be recommended for registration to offer JSS curriculum.

Those that score between 50 and 74 per cent will be graded as fair, to mean that they have met some requirements but a second assessment will be required before it can be registered to offer JSS education.

A school that scores below 50 per cent will be graded as poor, meaning that it has met some of the requirements but has not been recommended for registration to offer the curriculum. This will require such a school to fulfill specific requirements to qualify for a second round of assessment.