Solve Grade 9 crisis

The transition from the 8-4-4 system to the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) remains tricky because of inadequate facilities and staffing. This is more pronounced at the junior secondary school level, where there are fears that the learners may not have received sufficient instruction from Grade Six.

With just two months before the pioneer CBC class transitions to Grade 9, the infrastructural and staffing challenges persist. Of course, the government has been giving assurances about the readiness for the new education system.

The old system with eight years of primary, four of secondary and four of university education started with a lot of promise, but degenerated into theoretical learning and exams that did not equip youth with employable skills. These are the shortcomings the CBC was meant to cure and provide learners with an all-round education.

Education officials have been giving conflicting reports on the number of classrooms needed and the level of preparations. There is, so far, no indication that the raging Grade 9 crisis will be fixed soon. Grade 9 is the last class in the junior school under the CBC system.

President William Ruto has said the government has finalised plans for the construction of 11,000 classrooms ahead of the transition. Last week, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba said that only 3,500 new classrooms had been built.

The President has also asked MPs to use the NG-CDF to construct 6,000 classrooms so that by next year, every child in Grade 9 will be fully catered for.

However, the reality on the ground is that the junior schools are grossly understaffed. The planned recruitment of 20,000 teachers in January will only give one more teacher to each of the 23,000 public schools. More than 32,000 classrooms and laboratories are needed to accommodate the 1.5 million Grade 9 learners.

The government must strive to overcome the endemic challenges and adequately prepare for the Grade 9 transition.