JAMILA’S MEMO: A word of welcome for clarity and direction on CBC education system

The first Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) exams for Grade 6 learners are over. Before today, the anticipation for the students was high as they were unsure of which schools they would proceed to for junior secondary school, that is Grade 7 and beyond. But now there is more clarity than they had expected. These students will continue with their education in the same schools; meaning there will be no need to move, a relief for most parents as this decision has eliminated the extra costs they would have had to incur next year to move their children to Grade 7.

This also means that the Grade Six class will remain in their respective schools but will be exposed to secondary level content. The 2-6-3-3-3 education system will remain, only that the location of the first level of secondary school moves from secondary schools to primary.

This directive is among several included in an interim report by The Presidential Working Party on Education Reform. The task force was appointed by President William Ruto to review the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) and give recommendations. The report was presented after collection of views from Kenyans in different parts of the country. The full report is expected to be released in March 2023; however, the issues addressed in this initial report were more urgent as the Grade 6 learners have finished their exams and needed to know what next for them.

Most parents with children in Grade 6 were actually worried about having their little ones transition to secondary school and having to interact with much older learners. This age difference was problematic for many parents. Now those who were worried can breathe easy as it will mean the children can stay in their current schools for a bit longer, and move when older.

This decision has also, to some extent, saved the government the blushes, as there is no longer the urgency to build new classrooms for Junior Secondary. Yes, one of the directives in the report is the construction of a classroom and a laboratory in every primary school. But, in the meantime, primary schools neighbouring secondary schools will share laboratories and other facilities with junior secondary schools; a reprieve it is.

The report further directs that the exams that have just been completed will have no bearing on whether the learners proceed to Junior Secondary School or not, this means all the students will continue with Grade 7, a 100 per cent transition. The results will instead be used to assess the progress a student is making.

However, one of the issues that has been of concern for many is the teachers who will be taking over classes in the Junior Secondary school. The country is already facing a teachers’ shortage without the new classes in the CBC education programme. The task force has directed the recruitment of an additional 30,000 teachers in the next two months to facilitate the transition to Grade 7. But given that there are no secondary level teachers at primary schools and that there is no plan to shift teachers from current secondary schools to the primary institutions, reports indicate that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has been tasked to identify teachers in primary schools with diploma and degree qualifications to be prioritized for training for the grade seven level. The KICD, TSC and the Ministry of Education are expected to retool the identified teachers about junior secondary content in the next one month.

And as the interim report gives clarity to many and gives some relief as students begin the long holiday which hopefully will culminate in some semblance of normalcy in the education calendar, the hope among stakeholders including parents, students and their teachers is that the full report by the task force will give direction for students post Junior Secondary school.

That is my Memo!