President Ruto receives CBC evaluation report, issues orders on Junior Secondary School

President William Ruto has directed that the Grade 6 Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) examination shall not be used to determine the placement of pupils to Junior Secondary School (JSS).

This comes after the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms, instituted by Ruto on September 30, 2022 to evaluate the country's new CBC education system and make recommendations submitted its preliminary report to the head of state on Thursday.

According to Ruto, KPSEA will instead be used to scrutinize learning progress and provide feedback to education sector players on areas of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) that require intervention.

The President further directed that the junior secondary schools - Grade 7, Grade 8 and Grade 9 - be domiciled in the existing primary schools.

"The Ministry of Education will provide the necessary guidelines on how this will be done," a statement issued by State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed reads in part.

The government further directed that an extra classroom and a laboratory be built across all primary schools to be used by the Junior Secondary School learners

"The construction of laboratories will be given priority within the next one year. Members of Parliament are asked to work towards providing support for the extra facilities. Meanwhile, primary schools neighboring secondary schools will share the laboratories and other facilities with junior secondary schools," he said.

The government will also work together with relevant education stakeholders to bring teachers up to speed with the necessary skills that will allow them to begin delivering CBC lessons based on the system's principles.

"The Ministry of Education, Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development and the Teachers Service Commission will work on modalities of fast-tracking retooling teachers to ensure the country has sufficient numbers who are compliant with CBC. Priority will be given to those teachers who will be handling Grade 7 learners," said Mohamed.

Ruto's administration will likewise enlist an additional 30,000 teachers by January 2023 to assist in CBC transition while addressing the current teacher shortage being witnessed across the country.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers (KUPPET), have in recent months differed over the fate of the Grade Six graduates with both wanting them to remain under their jurisdiction.

KNUT has been adamant that moving the children to secondary schools will pose a risk to their safety, while KUPPET insists that secondary schools are better equipped to handle their transition.

KNUT's arguments against moving the Grade Six learners to high school are also based on age, with the union insisting that it's imprudent to mix the children aged between 11 to 14 with those from 15 to 19 years in the same premises, a fact disputed by the rival union.

The Presidential Working Party on Education Reform has up to March 2023 to submit the final report to the President.