Primary schools to be renamed under new regulations by Ministry of Education
Primary schools to be renamed under new regulations by Ministry of Education.Primary schools comprising of both primary and junior secondary, shall take on the name of the primary school where they are located, according to the new regulations. For example, a school that is currently known as Tusongembele Primary School will henceforth be known as Tusongembele School (Primary and JSS).
The country’s primary schools will have their titles changed, according to the Ministry of Education, as Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) and the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) are implemented.
Comprehensive schools, which include both primary and junior secondary education, are required to assume the name of the primary school where they are located under the new regulations, “unless in unusual situations.”
For example, a school that is currently known as “Tusongembele Primary School” will now be known as “Tusongembele School (Primary and JSS)”.
According to the government, “Primary School and Junior Secondary Schools shall have distinct Bank Accounts for the purposes of the Bank Accounts.”
The JSS leadership has been tasked with choosing the appropriate uniform for each school in cooperation with the relevant stakeholders.
However, the ministry advised school administrators against steering parents to certain uniform retailers.
“It is advised that each learner have at least one pair of uniforms. According to the ministry, parents must pay for the outfit, and no school may tell parents where to buy it.
The JSS uniform must reflect the cultural and religious values of the various groups and no JSS student may be excluded for inability to pay for a school uniform. In light of various climatic situations, special care SHALL be given,” it was added.
Twelve required core classes and one or two electives must be taken by JSS students. English, Kiswahili, or KSL, Mathematics, Integrated Science, Health Education, Pre-Technical and Career Education, Social Studies, Religious Education (CRE, IRE, or HRE), Business Studies, Agriculture, Life skills, Sports, and Physical Education make up the main subjects.
Visual arts, performing arts, home science, computer science, foreign languages (German, French, or Mandarin), Arabic, Kenyan Sign Language, and indigenous language make up the list of elective courses.
In the interim, Pre-Vocational students will be evaluated in nine subjects: Hygiene, Nutrition and Safety; Environmental Activities; Math Activities; Music and Movement; Religious Education; Christian Religious Education; Hindu Religious Education; Islamic Religious Education; Physical and Health Education; and Social Studies.
Ezekiel Machogu, the cabinet secretary for education, has previously stated that JSS students will not be required to pay any school fees because the government has already allocated Ksh. 15,000 for each of the more than 1 million Grade 6 students who took the KPSEA exams in November of last year.
Only institutions with boarding wings would be permitted to collect fees, according to Machogu.
KPSEA exams were taken by 1,287,597 students in Grade 6 between November 28 and November 30.
However, the placement of students in JSS did not use the exam results; rather, they were used to track student progress.
President Ruto ordered that the exam be used to evaluate students’ academic achievement and inform key figures in the education industry of CBC areas that need improvement.
He recommended that the junior secondary schools—Grades 7, 8, and 9—be housed in the current primary schools in his decree from December 1.