KUPPET Want Ruto’s Education Reforms Team Disbanded For Causing JSS Confusion
The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) has demanded the disbandment of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms (PWPER) due to the confusion caused by its recommendations for the implementation of junior secondary school (JSS).
The union has also called for a crisis meeting to address the issues surrounding the JSS curriculum, which it claims has halted learning since schools opened in January 2023.
Kuppet has asked for the JSS program to be moved back to secondary schools as originally planned, asserting that keeping learners in primary schools any longer than the upcoming school holidays would be a waste of their academic year.
According to Kuppet, government officials are hesitant to report the true situation for fear of going against the grain, which has resulted in public schools struggling to implement the JSS curriculum, and are poorly staffed.
The union also claimed that PWPER ignored research when it recommended that JSS be domiciled in primary schools, which lack the necessary infrastructure, including laboratories, libraries, and facilities for extracurricular activities.
Kuppet has urged the government to domicile JSS in secondary schools, stating that the State Department for Early Learning and Basic Education had already invested in addressing some of the shortcomings that emerged.
Kuppet’s chairperson, Omboko Milemba, stated that the primary problem is the lack of teachers for JSS in primary schools, with most schools receiving only one teacher despite the Teachers Service Commission deploying 30,000 teachers to teach JSS.
The teachers are overwhelmed as they have to handle 14 subjects, a task that would be more manageable in better-staffed secondary schools.
Mr Milemba noted that 70,000 more teachers are needed to staff JSS, and it would take approximately four years to optimally staff the program according to the curriculum-based establishment used for staffing secondary schools.
Kuppet has also dismissed concerns about the age of learners in JSS, stating that there are significant differences in primary and secondary schools, and the majority of learners attend day schools.
The term of PWPER is set to end at the end of March, where it will submit its final report to President William Ruto.
KUPPET Want Ruto’s Education Reforms Team Disbanded For Causing JSS Confusion
){kind=link}