With the government racing to set up necessary infrastructure, education stakeholders are increasingly getting anxious over the readiness of schools to accommodate Grade Nine students. This is because CBC involves Grades Seven, Eight, and Nine. The pioneer set of junior secondary school students rolled out last year will graduate to the JSS next year, raising heated questions of preparedness.
Is Six Months Enough?
Thus, the question is whether the remaining six months period is adequate for any government to build classrooms, laboratories, and other such facilities. With the clock starting in July and running through till January, concerns have definitely been ratcheted up a notch where meeting such demands is a concern. And this is further compounded by a huge shortfall of teachers for the JSS learners.
The Case for Secondary Schools
Some stakeholders now want Grade Nine pupils relocated to secondary schools, arguing that they already have the infrastructure in place. A union representative said that secondary schools have enough classrooms and laboratories which would lie idle because form one classes will not be admitted next year. He added that most of the primary schools do not have appropriate facilities to accommodate secondary school learning such as laboratories, libraries and sports grounds.
Teacher Shortage and Specialization Gaps
Complementing the infrastructure gap, the quality of education at the JSS level is also threatened by an acute shortage of teachers. In most cases, some JSS classes are assigned just one or two teachers to teach over twelve learning areas. This is further compounded by the fact that majority of the teachers teaching at this level are humanities trained, a factor that makes teaching of sciences and mathematics far from being effectively realized. This has therefore, increased the call by school heads to have Grades Eight and Nine moved to secondary where better infrastructure and specialized tutors are available.
Response of the Government and Funding
It is against this backdrop that Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has been at pains to reassure stakeholders. The government has set aside Sh3.5 billion to construct 1,000 extra classrooms across the country, he revealed. Added to this will be a supplemental Sh3.9 billion, to be matched by the National Government–Constituency Development Fund, for the construction of classrooms at the constituency level. Just the other day, the Ministry of Education released a significant amount of funds at different levels of education to offset the financial delays occasioned by Exchequer disbursement problems.
Psychosocial Considerations
According to the cabinet secretary, the decision to domicile JSS in primary schools also considered the psychosocial age of learners and the cost-effectiveness of using existing primary school classrooms. This recommendation is, with immediate effect, being implemented as 93 percent of stakeholders and members of the public support it.
Future Projections
He reiterated to stakeholders that the government would break ground on over 16,000 new classrooms starting the following week, to accommodate Grade Nine learners by January 2025. The move is aimed at ensuring that infrastructural needs are met so that transitioning to Grade Nine under CBC goes on as planned.
Conclusion
The controversy surrounds state preparedness towards the implementation of Grade Nine, with big concerns regarding infrastructure and a shortage of teachers. While applause goes to the government for the effort and financial commitments towards this course, the education community keenly looks forward in hopes that indeed these efforts will address those dire needs projected by JSS learners within this really short time frame. The successful implementation of CBC is pegged on the completion of these projects on time, coupled with effective deployment of resources to support students and teachers in this critical transition period.