A video clip of Education CS Prof George Magoha sitting on a yellow mtungi lit up social media on May 17. The CS had stopped by a home in Nakuru on his campaign trail for 100 per cent transition of primary school leavers to secondary school.
It was a light moment that hides a frightening reality of education in Kenya. For three consecutive days the People Daily exposed an unfolding disaster that should get everyone very worried. That was powerful journalism holding power to account.
The first story appeared on Monday, May 17, under the heading, “Schools struggle with congestion in classes, dorms” (p.8). The government’s 100 per cent transition policy has caused a nightmare in schools, with a single stream having up to 80 students in some institutions, double the recommended 40.
Kisii School with a Form 1 capacity of 500 already admitted 630. “We have several streams, some with 70 students each. Some parents are still seeking vacancies for their children but the school does not have enough classes to accommodate them,” senior teacher Tom Okong’o told PD.
It is the same story in secondary schools across the land. The government’s Economic Survey 2022 reveals that while the number of primary schools increased by 3.6 per cent in 2020-21, secondary schools grew by a paltry 0.9 per cent. That is a difference of four times. The country had 46,671 primary schools last year compared to 10,482 secondary schools.
On Tuesday, May 18, PD carried two stories on opposite pages. The first was headed, “Experts fault enactment of CBC system”. The story reported a “total lack of preparedness” that has left parents, students and teachers groping in “utter darkness”.
Kenya Secondary School Headteachers Association chairman Kahi Indimuli said congestion in secondary schools would hit crisis levels next year. Just seven months from now, secondary schools will have a double intake of Form 1s from the 8-4-4 class and the pioneer CBC group joining Junior Secondary School.
Initially, the government announced JSS would be accommodated in primary schools but later said the pupils will join existing secondary schools – which are already congested. The ministry is building additional classes at a cost of Sh8 billion. But that will be a drop in the ocean.
Registration of the CBC pioneer class for transition exams at the end of the year has been completed. Yet no one knows exactly how the learners will be selected to join secondary school. PS for Implementation of Curriculum Reforms Fatuma Chege told PD the government is working on the criteria and “by October everything should be very clear”.
The second story was headed, “Proposal to merge secondary school science subjects faulted”. It said teachers and other education experts are worried the planned combinations would dilute learning of the subjects. Five years since start of implementation, the CBC curriculum bado inapachikwa viraka.
On Wednesday, May 19, PD carried a stark editorial titled, “Fix CBC frailties before it’s too late”. The paper sounded the alarm: “Time is running out and the government should move with speed to address challenges surrounding CBC implementation, failure to which the country runs the risk of being ill-prepared”.
An op-ed on the facing page said, “Transition under CBC: The waterloo is here with us”. Teacher and public policy expert Jonathan Wesaya wrote about unanswered questions around availability of learning materials, stiff-necked education officials dismissing off-hand genuine concerns about flaws in curriculum design, and “teacher unions that were to be the fulcrum upon which the reform rotated were neutered and they now sit like eunuchs at the king’s palace”.
“The whole CBC design had no known implementation and resourcing plan shared and discussed with stakeholders,” the expert said.
Disaster awaits education in January, Wesaya predicted: “If we have not been able to absorb the more than a million cohort from Class Eight into Form 1 at any one time with 100 per cent transition, how are we going to handle two transitions of more than 2.5 million learners at a go?”
Kudos, PD! Your timely and detailed coverage of this critical national issue for three straight days was superb. It is what journalism with a finger on the pulse of the nation does.
See you next week!
