Grade 9 transition rocked by infrastructure gaps as Form 1 halls remain empty

From the onset, the Uhuru Kenyatta administration established the CBC, replacing the 8-4-4 system that had been in place since 1985. 

The new curriculum introduced a 2-6-6-3 structure meaning two years of pre-primary, six years of primary, six years of secondary and three years of university. 

CBC, according to former president Uhuru, was aimed at matching the students' needs and bringing a practical approach to learning. 

Soon after, the curriculum faced challenges in teacher training, the cost of acquiring new teachers and setting up infrastructure to accommodate the learners. 

Years later, President William Ruto's administration faces the same hitches, with the transition of Grade 9 students being its Achilles heel.

Ticking Time Bomb?

For months, education stakeholders raised concerns over the government's unpreparedness to accommodate the first cohort of Grade 9.

The debacle ensued after President Ruto's education task force gave the curriculum the green light. Questions arose about where the Grade 9 students would be domiciled in Primary and JSS or secondary schools. 

As the debate raged on, time was running out with little being done to ensure the curriculum's successful implementation. 

Months later, the State agreed to domicile the students in primary schools and began pushing for the transition without dealing with all the bottlenecks. 

The new curriculum phased out the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) by introducing the Junior and Secondary School system. 

Under CBC, Grade 6 learners were introduced to the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) to transition to JSS.

After three years, the students sit the Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) before proceeding to the Senior Secondary School. 

However, the transition has created uncertainty over the curriculum since for the first time since 1985, there will be no Form One admission this January. 

At the time, the State promised to construct over 16,000 classrooms but the plan fell short by 2,500 during school reopening in January. 

To allay fears, Education PS Belio Kipsang urged school heads to look for alternative spaces to facilitate the students, extending the timeline for providing the classrooms by another month. 

"We are going to have short-term mitigating solutions to give us more time to finalise on any school where we are putting up a classroom. Some of the mitigating factors is consolidating on classrooms," Kipsang told the media on Monday, January 6. 

"Within this short time of the next 30 days, we want to make sure that we don't disrupt learning. In some situations, where congestion will not allow, we can have a multi-shift within the time. If there's a class having outdoor activities, then within that time there can be another group that is optimising those classrooms."

Kipsang noted that Ksh.16 billion would be used to construct the remaining classrooms in 30 days, with the government allocating billions to the NG-CDF kitty to help construct the facilities. 

The State will be working round the clock to fulfill its promise at a time when the National Treasury is yet to release Ksh.48 billion in capitation. 

Another challenge also lies in whether the recent posting of 46,000 JSS teachers and another 20,000 will be enough to balance the teacher-to-student ratio in schools across the country. 

The many issues surrounding the CBC have left the public questioning whether Ruto's Kenya Kwanza government has bitten more than it can chew.