Government Issues Statement on Housing of Junior Secondary Schools

The government has directed that junior secondary schools, i.e. grades 7, 8, and 9, will be domiciled in the existing primary schools.

In a statement on Thursday, December 1, State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed said that the Ministry of Education will provide guidelines on how the exercise will be done.

The directive by the government came after the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform presented an interim report to President William Ruto.

"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," read part of the statement by Hussein Mohamed.

The government further directed that the Grade 6 Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) will not be used for placement in junior secondary school.

It clarified that instead, the national test will be used as an assessment to monitor learning progress and provide feedback to players in the education sector on areas that require intervention.

The government also stated that an extra classroom and laboratory will be built in every primary school, and 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 and neighboring secondary schools will share the laboratories and other facilities with junior secondary schools," further read the statement by Hussein.

The government maintained that the Ministry of Education will work on modalities for fast-tracking the retooling of teachers to ensure the country has sufficient numbers of teachers who are compliant with CBC.

It further announced hiring of additional 30,000 teachers by January 2023 to facilitate the transition and bridge the teacher shortage.