Grade 7 students have started reporting for their junior secondary school education marking the beginning of the second phase of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
This comes following a directive by the Cabinet Secretary Education, Ezekiel Machogu, who called upon parents and guardians to ensure their children report to the various selected schools starting this Monday.
The program has also kicked off despite pending issues such as the distribution of textbooks in the course of the week and posting of the CBC trained teachers.
Each student is to receive a textbook in each of the core learning areas at junior secondary school and the optional subjects they will choose.
More communication is yet to be received from the government concerning resources such as laboratories but the schools have been assigned to choose others such as uniforms.
A spot check by KNA in Kiambu Monday revealed that most parents have complied with the directive and taken their children to school.
Kiambu township Primary School head teacher, Rahab Wanjie told KNA that the population for Junior secondary in the school was 266 which is about 80 per cent of those admitted.
“We are expecting all of them to report and so far, so good,” she said, though adding that with all the students having been promoted to the junior secondary, they only have four (4) classes big enough to accommodate the students at a capacity of about 66 students per class.
“This number is a little larger than the government directions and it will also make it impossible for us to accommodate students from other schools,” Wanjie explained
Some parents from schools that do not have classes for junior secondary are worried lot as they do not know where to take their children as nearby schools already have enough students in compliance with the government directive of 48 students per class.
Sarah Wambui, a parent to a student reporting for junior secondary school told KNA it was a great experience and phase for her child who was excited.
“As a parent the challenge of buying new uniform has not been easy and I wish the government could assist,” she said
More than 1.26 million students will enroll in the Junior Secondary and in Kiambu so far, the exercise seems to have started smoothly with some students already settled and excited to start learning.
Earlier Monday, Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu after monitoring the reporting of grade seven learners at Nairobi primary school said that they will be issued with text books at a cost of Sh3.164 billion in each of the core learning areas and also the optional subjects they will choose.
The CS also emphasized and promised that all the children in Junior secondary will report to schools in line with the government’s 100 per cent transition initiative.
By Geofred Otieno
