Ministry of Education Releases Guidelines For Placement Of Learners To Junior Secondary Schools
The Ministry of Education has revealed criteria for placement of Grade 6 learners to Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) in January 2023.
Grade 6 learners, the CBC pioneer group is set to sit for their final examinations at the primary school level in the month of November this year before transitioning to junior secondary school at Grade 7.
The Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) is scheduled to start on the 28th to 30th of November 2022.
The examinations will be multiple choice questions and shall end on the same day as the Kenya Primary School Education (KCPE) national examinations.
KNEC has already released the timetable for two primary the examinations scheduled this academic year and it indicated that the examinations will be done within three days.
The KCPE candidates will be joining secondary school in Form 1 while Grade 6 learners will be joining Junior Secondary School at Grade 7.
The criteria the ministry of education will use to place learners in Junior Secondary School
1) Distance from their homes
The government through the Ministry of education has revealed that the placement of Grade 6 learners into junior secondary school will be informed by the distance of the junior secondary school to their homes.
Learners will be placed in junior high schools based on the proximity to their former primary school.
“Posting of learners to junior high schools will be informed by the capability of parents to transport a child to the school that they have chosen,” said Ruth Mugambi, the technical adviser to the Principal Secretary on matters concerning the CBC.
The Cabinet Secretary for Education George Magoha revealed that junior Secondary schools will be offered in both day and boarding secondary schools across the country.
2) Performance of Learners in the KPSEA and SBA
Just like the current KCPE where the placement of learners depends on their performance in the national examination, the performance of learners will also be used in the placement of learners in junior secondary school.
The SBA will contribute around 60% while the KPSEA will contribute 40% in the final report on the performance of learners.
3) Optional subjects that learners chose
The Ministry will place Grade 6 learners into Grade 7 depending on the optional subjects that the school offers so as to meet optional subjects chosen by the learners.
In the new curriculum, schools will be required to offer at least three optional subjects.
The optional subjects will then determine which secondary school a child will be posted to.
Subjects offered in Grade 7 are as follows:
1. Mathematics
2. Kiswahili of Kenyan Sign Language for learners who are deaf
3. English
4. Integrated Science
5. Health Education
6. Pre-Technical and Pre-Career Education
7. Social Studies
8. Religious
i) Christian Religious Education
ii) Islamic Religious Education
iii) Hindu Religious Education
9. Business Studies 1
10. Agriculture
11. Life Skills Education
12. Sports and Physics Education
Optional Subjects (Minimum1, Minimum 2)
1. Visual Arts
2. Performing Arts
3. Home Science
4. Computer Science
5. Foreign Languages
i) German
ii) French
iii) Mandarin
iv) Arabic
v) Indigenous Languages
vi) Kenyan Sign Language
