CS Magoha says leaders promising to scrap CBC misguided

For weeks now Ford Kenya and ANC parties have proposed to scrap the system should the DP Ruto-led-Kenya Kwanza alliance win the presidential election in August. 

Prof. Magoha has been inspecting the ongoing construction of new classrooms that should accommodate the first class of Junior Secondary in January 2023.

At the moment, the pioneer CBC class is in Grade Five and should transition to Grade Six in May of this year. That class should complete their primary education by December, meaning they will be joining junior secondary in January of 2023. At the same time, learners who will sit their KCPE in December 2022 will also transition to Form One in secondary schools.

Estimates show that the secondary school learner population will in January next year rise from 4.3 million to 6 million.

It is on this basis that the government has been putting up the additional classes. They are yet to be equipped with desks; with the accompanying infrastructure yet to be acquired.

The political class is now weighing in on what has become an extra load for parents, in meeting the needs of their children under the new curriculum.

“Tumeskia wazazi wanalalamika, tukiingia serikalini, tutabadilisha hii system,” said Moses Wetangula – Senator, Bungoma on February 6th.

The ANC Party led by Musalia Mudavadi has declared CBC will be scrapped, saying it was hurriedly implemented without wide and genuine consultations with stakeholders and that; the new system is a big burden and an academic frustration to Kenyan parents. But the CS will hear none of it.

“You can bark out there but you cannot take a Grade Six child back to Satndard One to go prepare for KCPE. These children  have gone through seven years of CBC since PP1… how do you think you can take them back? Which mother will allow you? Before we open our mouths, think first,” said Magoha.

At the moment, the government is implementing a plan to have Junior secondary schools domiciled in secondary schools. This will mean children who are on average 12 years old will be in the same school with older teenagers. But the minister says there are some primary schools with excess capacity that will be allowed to accommodate the Grade 7 and 8 learners.

Question is, who will teach the junior secondary school learners? Should they proceed to Current secondary schools, are the serving teachers aligned with the CBC system and the content of two grades lower? Are they enough?

For those that remain in the primary schools, will their existing teachers be allowed to tutor them? Will there be excess manpower at primary schools once Standard 7 and 8 fade out? If yes, where will they go?

There has been a tussle between primary school head teachers and those at secondary schools over where Junior Secondary School should reside.

And with a political transition beckoning who will secure the interests of learners who by then will have invested over six years of their young lives in a totally different system?

“ I serve the president and all children are the same… When his term ends, I shall end it with him, what happens after that, is it my business? It is God’s business. Will you allow your children to mess with them?” posed Magoha

The government is at the moment putting up 6,400 classrooms at secondary schools, most of them at different stages of completion. This is against a demand for 20,000 extra classrooms, with the government hoping to construct at least 10,000 by the end of Kenyatta’s tenure. 

There are just over 10,000 secondary schools in the country against nearly 30,000 primary schools. The work is on to measure if the new classrooms will be sufficient capacity for the expanded needs.