Change of Plans For Grade 9 Learners 2025
Grade 9 Learners may transfer to secondary schools starting in the following academic year as the government looks for solutions to the problems plaguing junior secondary schools (JSS).
Since the first students under the Competency-Based Curriculum transferred to JSS, there have been numerous severe setbacks, including a shortage of teachers, inadequate training, and a lack of classrooms, libraries, and labs.
The government may be able to save JSS if secondary schools with equipped labs, libraries, and empty classrooms that will become available once this year’s KCSE candidates go.
Government sources stated that a drastic change in how the new level of learning is implemented is necessary due to the rigorous expectations for Grade Nine and the growing number of pupils pursuing professional routes.
The decision, if approved, will support the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers’ (Kuppet) suggestions that Grade Nine should be transferred to a high school and only Grades Seven and Eight remain in primary school.
Change of Plans For Grade 9 Learners 2025
According to Kuppet, the Junior Secondary School’s one-year implementation should be abandoned since it has been “terribly corrupted” and beset by a number of issues.
“While primary schools are having difficulties, secondary schools have a lot of underutilized resources. In an interview with The Standard, Kuppet secretary general Akello Misori stated, “These include infrastructure and trained teachers.”
One of the issues hurting JSSJSS, according to the union, is the severe lack of trained teachers in junior secondary schools.
Kuppet claims that a large number of teachers allocated to junior schools are either inexperienced and need time to become used to the classroom, or they lack subject matter expertise in the areas they are expected to teach because of a teacher shortage.
According to the union, this has made the classroom unorganized.
Additionally, Kuppet administrators suggested a thorough evaluation of JSS and claimed that low compensation was the cause of teacher dissatisfaction.
A spot check that exposed the difficulties faced by students, instructors, and the inefficiencies of the new educational level, raising concerns that things would get worse if something wasn’t done quickly.
Change of Plans For Grade 9 Learners 2025
At the Donholm Comprehensive School, the spot-check consisted of an hour-long immersion into the operations of a Junior Secondary School supported by the State.
Although there was no denying the excitement of the children and teachers, other factors such as overcrowding, poor facilities, and insufficient teachers created a different image.
This makes the difference between the ideal and actual circumstances in a JSS lesson very clear.
When we arrive at one of the five Grade 8 streams for our first class visit, there is a noticeable amount of congestion and crowding. It has an 8s label on it.
There was almost any obvious room to move to the rear of the classroom because it was so packed.
She handles 32 lessons in a week, leaving her with eight free lessons, which she claims she uses to get ready for the classes she has coming up.
The government has supplemented the absence of laboratories by providing utility lockers with scientific laboratory equipment in an effort to ease the situation.
All throughout Kenya, reports describe schools that are understaffed, have overcrowded classrooms, and lack instructional resources for practical topics.
While the CBC places a strong emphasis on problem-solving and critical thinking, improvisation and struggle are commonplace in many public schools, including Donholm.
Change of Plans For Grade 9 Learners 2025
The Ministry of Education announced on January 15 that the government had set aside Sh3.9 billion to build 15,021 more Junior Secondary School (JSS) classrooms by 2025 in order to house students in first grade 9.
