Junior secondary schools will be classified according to the number of competency based curriculum (CBC) pathways offered in the institutions, Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has said.
The three pathways that define a learner’s career are Arts and Sports Science; Social Sciences and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (Stem).
While touring Nyeri County, Prof Magoha said well-established schools will have three pathways while day schools and other smaller boarding schools will have two.
This means all the 103 national schools and the extra county schools will offer all three pathways while the smaller institutions will have two. Concerning construction of more classrooms to accommodate junior secondary students, Prof Magoha said some classes had been completed while others were at the roofing stage. The government plans to build 10,000 new classrooms, with 5,000 completed by April in the first phase of the project.
The CS lashed out at some contractors who he said had delayed completing the classrooms. He warned that “lazy and incompetent” contractors will not be tolerated.
Shortage of teachers
Speaking at Mutira Girls Secondary School in Kirinyaga County, Prof Magoha told county commissioners and county directors of education to ensure tenders of such contractors be terminated immediately. In Nyeri, the CS said, 31 classes are being built.
Prof Magoha lamented that students had been torching learning institutions on trivial issues, leading to massive destruction of property.
He urged them to concentrate on classwork and leave school peacefully if they feel offended instead of destroying facilities.
While secondary school teachers will be trained on CBC implementation in March, the learning institutions are still dealing with an acute shortage.
According to TSC data, there is a total shortage of 114,581 teachers across the country. Secondary schools need 64,737 teachers while primary schools have a shortage of 49,653 teachers. It is still unclear the criteria that will be used to place students in junior secondary schools, as some have better facilities than others.
Secondary school has been split into two levels; junior and senior. Junior secondary will comprise Grades Seven, Eight and Nine while senior secondary will be Grade 10, 11 and 12.
Shortage of classrooms
In junior secondary, students will learn 12 core subjects — English, Kiswahili or Kenyan Sign Language, mathematics, integrated science, health education, pre-technical and pre-career education, social studies, religious education, business studies, agriculture, life skills and sports and physical education.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) will be integrated and used as a delivery tool for all the subjects. They will also have optional subjects, which include visual arts, performing arts, home science, computer science, foreign languages (German, French, Mandarin and Arabic), Kenyan Sign Language and indigenous languages.
This will see two classes enrolled to the 10,413 secondary schools across the country, creating a shortage of facilities.
To address the shortage of classrooms, the government is in the process of building 10,000 new classrooms to accommodate the increased enrolment.
In the first phase, the government will build 6,500 new classrooms built in 6,371 schools. In Nyeri, 168 classes will be built in 167 out of the 220 secondary schools in the county. BY DAILY NATION