PRESS RELEASE (FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE)
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, Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development and the Teachers Service Commission will work on modalities of fast-tracking retooling teachers to ensure the country has sufficient numbers who are compliant with CBC. Priority will be given to those teachers who will be handling Grade 7 learners.
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 up to March 2023 to submit the final report.
Hussein Mohamed, MBS