Junior Secondary School (JSS) Rules & Guidelines Ready.
The guidelines that schools will use to admit students to junior secondary school (JSS) are complete, but parents and teachers will have to wait a little longer for them to be published.
The rules have been developed to provide guidance on the transition and implementation of the competency-based curriculum (CBC) in JSS, according to Fatuma Chege, Principal Secretary for Curriculum Implementation.
Prof Chege stated that once “administrative processes” have been completed, the documents will be published and the public will be able to see how the transition will be carried out.
When the pioneer CBC class and candidates currently in Standard Eight move to secondary school in January, there will be a double-intake.
In November, CBC students will take the first Kenya Primary Education Assessment. It will be a summative assessment worth 40%, in addition to the formative assessments, they completed in Grades Four, Five, and Six.
Prof Chege announced the formation of transition committees at the county, sub-county, and school levels during the seventh edition of the Catholic Schools Principals Conference in Nairobi.
Members of the committees will be trained further using the document’s tools and structures.
“They will work to ensure that the transition is a corporate activity,” she said, adding that the committees will conceptualize and recommend integration to avoid creating demarcation between learners in CBC and 8-4-4.
The conference was opened and keynoted by Nairobi Catholic Archbishop Philip Anyolo.
The meeting was also addressed by Fr Ferdinand Lugonzo, general secretary of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Rev Prof Stephen Mbugua, Vice-Chancellor of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa.
Various stakeholders have expressed concerns about JSS’s placement, infrastructure, content, and staffing.
The PS encouraged parents to enroll their children as day students at JSS.
She also stated that boarding secondary schools that want to open day sections will be able to do so.
Prof Chege stated that the committees will rationalize teacher capacity and that the Teachers Service Commission should consider “roving teachers” for learning areas where there are shortages. She stated that such teachers could teach in more than one school.
The PS instructed the principals to become acquainted with the CBC curriculum designs and to identify and publicize the optional subjects that their schools will offer.
The government is constructing 10,000 classrooms in secondary schools to fill infrastructure gaps, with 6,497 units completed in the first phase of the project.
Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has reached out to private schools to supplement government efforts to establish JSS sections.
Prof. Magoha has also hinted that the ministry will place JSS students in some private schools while encouraging parents with children to keep their children enrolled in private schools for JSS.
They spoke at the Kenya Private Schools Association (KPSA) annual conference in Mombasa, which drew over 1,000 private school owners.
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“We’re discussing and trying to find ways and solutions to overcome the challenges that have emerged from the CBC,” KPSA Chairman Charles Ochome said, adding, that Prof Magoha is expected to address the directors on the policy issues on CBC.
According to him, many private schools have established and equipped labs and ICT centers as required by the Ministry of Education.
Some private school owners have expressed financial difficulties as a result of low enrollment as parents prefer to send their children to public or international schools.
Regarding teacher CBC training, KPSA officials stated that they will collaborate with the TSC, despite the fact that some schools are already doing so.
Junior Secondary School (JSS) Rules & Guidelines Ready
