Kenya Union of Post-primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) says secondary schools are not ready for Grade six pupils in January due to inadequate infrastructure including boarding facilities.
Julius Korir, who is the assistant chairperson of Kuppet, says that lack of funds has affected development in various secondary schools.
“We call upon the government to ensure that the transition is smooth and this can only happen if adequate funds are placed aside to ensure these students are comfortable in those schools,” Korir said
“We need funds to ensure more classes are built and also accommodation for those students. We already have a problem because of the 100 per cent transition so given that we now have another double intake, we do not want to get into another crisis,” Korir added.
According to the ministry, 2.57 million students will be enrolled for Grade 6 and Form 1 during the double intake in January.
This number is expected to put pressure in the already overwhelmed facilities in secondary schools.
President William Ruto has already said his government will look into and address the challenges in CBC.
Speaking just moments after taking his oath of office on Tuesday, President Ruto noted that his administration will set up a taskforce to address the aforementioned challenges surrounding the CBC transition.
“There is a robust conversation in the country on education, in particular the implementation of the CBC curriculum. Public participation is critical in this matter. We will establish an Education Reform Taskforce in the Presidency which will be launched in the coming weeks. It will collect views from all key players in line with the constitutional demand of public participation,” said President Ruto at the Moi Sports International Complex in Kasarani.
However it may take time before the Task force collect views that will inform the right action. During this period Grade 6 learners may be reporting to junior secondary.
Early this month, Education Cabinet Secretary Professor George Magoha said a total of 9,500 CBC classrooms out of the 10,000 have been constructed across the country to accommodate the first cohorts of junior secondary.
While commissioning phase two of the CBC classroom at Hon. John Njoroge High School in Kasarani in Nairobi the CS said the remaining classes will be completed before learners join grade seven next year.
Approximately 1,268,83 Grade 6 learners will sit their Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) exams from 28th to 30th November 2022.
The learners will then join junior secondary school at Grade 7 in January 2023. The selection exercise for junior secondary ended on 10th September.
The placement of learners to junior high will happen in December. The learners will be placed in both public and private junior secondary schools during the placement exercise.
CS Magoha had asked private schools to provide a total of 5,000 classes for smooth transition of CBC classes.
According to Kenya Private Schools Association Chair Charles Ochome, the sector has already constructed 1,296 classrooms.
The private sector has a target of 5,000 classes to be constructed before January 2023.
The first phase of construction saw 6,500 being put up in schools while in the second phase, some 3,500 classrooms were constructed.
“The education sector was the greatest beneficiary of the national budget in the financial year 2022/2023 receiving Sh544 billion,” Magoha said
“The President has given us 26.9 per cent of the budget and we thank him for that; our challenge is how that money is used,” he added.
He added that the implementation of CBC and transition from primary to junior secondary school and later senior secondary school is based on the recommendations of the Taskforce that was formed in 2019.
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