The guidelines on how learners will transition from primary to junior secondary school (JSS) will be released in three weeks, Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha said yesterday.

Magoha also clarified that only a few primary schools – particularly those with adequate space – will be allowed to host junior secondary classes.

He said that the Ministry had always been clear that Competency-Based Curriculum classrooms will be established in secondary schools, adding that more than 6,500 classrooms had already completed.

“The only thing we have not pronounced to you is how children will move from Grade Six to Seven. That is being cooked and I can tell you that in the inside of three weeks, we will come out with very clear systems of how your child will move from Grade Six to Grade Seven,” explained Magoha.

Private schools

He made the remarks in Mombasa during the Kenya Private School Association annual directors conference and later inspected Light Academy and Mary Joy Academy on their preparedness to enroll Junior Secondary students.

“We have said that in order to maximise on the numbers, there are some primary schools within the same compound as secondary schools. There is still some space in the primary schools to be utilised also but will still be in the secondary school,” said Magoha.

He added that the government will continue encouraging private schools to start standalone junior secondary sections and to also increase space in high schools.

“As far as private schools are concerned, especially in urban areas such as this (Mombasa), for those who have invested in primary schools only, we have encouraged them to build standalone JSSs,” he added.

The CS said the ministry will increase the speed of inspecting preparedness for the transition, noting that by the time he hands over to the next Education minister after the election, there will be enough number of classrooms for January 2023 enrollment.

“One thing I know is that come January, our children must prepare to go to school whichever the government takes over. Nobody is saying that CBC will be a smooth ride, the incoming government must also continue spend money,” he stated.

This came as a lobby group, Regional Education Learning Initiative (RELI), which comprises 70 organisations in East Africa made proposals to have a majority of  Grade Seven learners placed at sub-county schools.

“Since the children who are going to transit are very young, about 12 years or even younger, it is important that they are not sent to schools which are far away from home,” said Usawa Agenda Executive Director Emmanuel Manyasa.

He was speaking in Nairobi during an education stakeholders meeting on the status of education.

“Our suggestion to government is that we place all learners JSS in sub-county schools because there are 7,000 of them spread all over the country and the children can commute from home and if not, can be in boarding schools near home so they can be close to their parents as possible,” he said.

He said pupils in Grade Seven are in a critical age when character is formed and they need parental guidance.

The lobby group also urged the government to review the capitation model to a system where every school gets a certain basic minimum amount and the balance is allocated based on the number of students.

He said in the current numbers-based system, bigger schools get enough money to invest in infrastructure while less-populated schools get a much smaller allocation and are unable to expand.

Holiday tuition

The team also said the government should consider supporting small private schools, especially in urban centres where there are inadequate public schools.

Magoha, however, said the government cannot support private schools because of resource constraints, with most public schools grappling with shortage of land and infrastructure for expansion of facilities ahead of the double intake in January.

“There are people who can afford to pay, so it doesn’t make sense to give capitation to people who are able,” said Magoha.

At the same time Education Principal Secretary Julius Jwan warned private schools against holding tuition sessions during school holidays.

“We know very well that our schedule is very tight. The guidelines are very clear, you cannot keep children in school when they only have 10 days to open. We urge you to give learners a break to stay with their parents,” said Jwan.