MoE to Move Grade 9 to Secondary Schools
MoE to Move Grade 9 to Secondary Schools. Grade nine students could move to secondary schools from next year as the government looks at ways to address the challenges facing Junior Secondary Schools (JSS).
Lack of facilities; classrooms, libraries and laboratories, shortage of teachers and poor training have been major obstacles since the first students moved to JSS under the competency-based curriculum.
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Secondary schools with furnished laboratories, libraries and vacant classrooms that will come up after the KCSE candidates leave this year could help the government save JSS.
Government sources said the expected rigor in the ninth grade and the strengthening of career paths among students required a radical shift in the introduction of the new level of learning.
If passed, the decision will cement proposals by the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Teachers (Kuppet) that only grades seven and eight be housed in primary school, while grade nine has been moved to secondary school.
Kuppet argued that the one-year implementation of the Middle School was “horribly corrupt” and plagued by many problems and should be terminated.
“We have a lot of unused resources in secondary schools, while primary schools are struggling. These include trained teachers and infrastructure,” said Kuppet Secretary General Akello Misori in an interview with The Standard.
The union also cited the acute shortage of qualified teachers in junior high schools as one of the problems affecting JSS.
According to Kuppet, many of the teachers assigned to the Junior School are either new to teaching, so it takes time for them to adjust, or because of the lack of teachers, they do not have mastery of the subject in the areas they are tasked to master.
The union said it created a chaotic learning environment.
Kuppet officials also alleged dissatisfaction among JSS teachers due to poor pay and recommended a comprehensive review of JSS.
20 computers and the school principal shows that they are all working.
But at Donholm Primary School, the cracks run deeper than overcrowding, there is also a lack of teacher capacity to manage a primary school.
Mr. Nzioka, the principal revealed that the total number of teachers posted at the lower school level is not enough to handle the 13 streams of JSS spread across grades 7 and 8.
Nzioka reveals that the school has 18 teachers for JSS, including 12 seconded to the institution
“You realize that the number of students compared to the number of streams, these teachers are not able to serve these classes, so we have been able to internally upgrade some teachers in the Primary section, especially those who were teaching ex-Standard 8 and ex-Standard 7,” Nzioka said.
The equipment is distributed under the School Equipment Production Unit.
However, this story is not unique to Donholm Comprehensive School, but represents the face of state-funded institutions, with institutions in rural areas bearing the harshest harshness.
Reports from across Kenya paint a similar picture: overcrowded classrooms, understaffed schools and a lack of teaching materials for practical subjects.
While CBC emphasizes critical thinking and problem solving, the reality in many public schools like Donholm is improvisation and struggle.
On January 15, the Ministry of Education said the government has allocated Sh3.9 billion to build an additional 15,021 Junior Secondary School (JSS) classrooms by 2025 to accommodate 9 Grade One pupils.
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu said the World Bank will provide an additional Sh9 billion to build 9,000 classrooms.
He said the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NGCDF) will also provide support to guarantee that the classrooms are ready for use by 2025.
“We are taking steps to ensure our schools have the facilities they need to enable staff and students to work together in a supportive environment,” he said.