Grade Six Pupils to apply for junior high school slots
Pioneer students in Grade Six who will be transitioning to junior secondary schools (JSS) under the new Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) must apply for the slots, Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha announced on Monday.
The students are scheduled to enter Grade Seven in January of next year.
“Children will have to apply and we are going to tell them the number of slots available. We are almost completing the process.
“We encourage the private schools, which we will say are ready for junior secondary schools, to allow the children to apply on the public platform so that they are placed,” said Prof Magoha.
He spoke at Moi Educational Centre following an inspection to determine whether private schools are ready to host JSS.
The CS stated that Grade Seven students will not be boarding in the new schools.
At the same time, Prof Magoha stated that the government intends to place Grade Seven students from public schools in private schools to alleviate the cutthroat competition that may arise as a result of the expected double intake in January.
The admission of Form One students under the 8-4-4 system, as well as Grade Seven students, is expected to put a strain on existing infrastructure.
“Parents should not panic over the Grade Seven students since both the government and private schools will accommodate all the students.
"With 10,000 classes from public and another 5,000 from private schools, we will manage the transition,” said Prof Magoha.
The CS stated that there was no need for parents to transfer their children to different institutions, adding that "competition will only emerge during the enrollment in Grace 10 senior secondary schools.”
“It would be critical for parents who already have their children in private schools to keep them in junior secondary facilities established within those schools, so that the cutthroat competition that follows Standard Eight is postponed to Year 10.”
“It is just one additional year, so they will even be a little bit older than usual when they start competing now for the Senior school,” said Prof Magoha.
The CS also rejected the argument that the CBC meant that students entered high school at a young age and that teachers were unprepared to deal with them.
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“Who said that our teachers are not well-trained? Even in this school, we have had 12-year-olds before and even now.
“I am a doctor and I can tell you that the difference between a 12- and 14-year-old is not that serious. They even behave better,” he said.
Prof Magoha stated that the construction of CBC classrooms in public schools is currently underway, with 1,296 of the 5,000 classes completed. He promised that all classrooms would be finished before the government turned them over to primary schools.
Pupils to apply for junior high school slots – Magoha
