The Presidential Task Force on Education Reform recommends that secondary schools (JSS) remain in primary schools.
The Presidential Working Party on Educational Reforms is also mulling over a proposal that may alter the present structure of 2-6-3-3-3 to a new one of 2-6-2-4-3.
In the new proposals being considered, pre-primary school and nursery school will take two years and these children are expected to be aged between five to six years.
Learning in primary school will take six years and children at this level will be aged between seven and 12 years. Learning in junior secondary school will last two years. At senior secondary school, there will be for four years, and learners will be expected to be between 15 and 18 years old.
Because Grade 7 and Grade 8 will be secondary-level education, the government might introduce unique uniforms to distinguish the learners from the primary school ones.
In a report yet to be presented to the president, the 42-member task force recommended keeping 7th and 8th graders in elementary school and changing the division’s name to Upper Primary.
The head of the working group Prof. Speaking to the media, Rafael Munawu said JSS students should remain in primary school because of their young age.
“It would be a huge risk for our young students to interact with older students in high school and it could have a negative impact on the number of bullying incidents,” he said.
According to the team, inadequate infrastructure in secondary schools is another problem that can hamper the learning of JSS students as many secondary schools are overcrowded.
In addition, there is a shortage of classrooms, teachers and other resources such as laboratories, libraries and hostels.
The task force suggested that the sixth graders enroll in upper primary, where they must study for two years before entering Junior secondary school.
The report also stated that secondary teachers may find it difficult to manage young students as they are used to interacting with more mature students.
