Finally, the committee formed to gather views on the current CBC curriculum has filed and released its report on the reviews that are needed.
The government,through the Education Secretary Ezekiel Machogu, adapted a number of reforms that were released today and gazetted in the government gazette through a press release by the Statehouse Spokesperson.
A few days ago, the CS for Education promised to let parents of grade six pupils who sat for the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) know the fate of their children. True to his words, he finally released the findings.
Some of the reviews that parents required were on the progress of the students, who were unsure whether the junior secondary schools would be housed in current secondary schools or in primary schools.
Another issue was whether the learners could be taught by high school teachers or by primary school teachers.
Statement on the interim report of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform.
The Presidential Working Party on Education Reform presented an interim report to President William Ruto today. Consequently,the government has given the following directives:
1. Junior secondary schools-grade 7,grade 8 and Grade 9 will be domiciled in the existing primary schools. The Ministry of Education will provide the necessary guidelines on how this will be done.
2. The Grade 6 Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) will not be used for placement in Junior Secondary School. Instead, it will be used as an assessment to monitor learning progress and provide feedback to education sector players on areas that require intervention.
3. An extra classroom and laboratory will be built in every primary school. 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.
4. The ministry of education, through KICD and TSC, is in charge of training and recruiting teachers for the curriculum to ensure the government has enough manpower to handle CBC. Those working with grade 7 learners will receive special attention.This has therefore come as a sigh of relief for both parents and teachers as they plan for the new educational calendar, which begins January 23, 2023.
5.Government will recruit an additional 30,000 teachers by January 2023 to facilitate the transition and bridge the teacher shortage.
The presidential working party on education reform has upto march 2023 to submit the final report.
