Government blamed for fueling crisis in admissions to senior secondary schools

Photo/ Dr Vincent Gaitho, Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the University
Council, Mount Kenya University (MKU)

By James Wakahiu
The government has come under heavy criticism for inefficiencies that that have
now culminated in more than 700,000 Grade Nine learners being unable to report
for Grade 10 by last weekend.
Elimu Bora Policy and Strategy Advisor, Mr Boaz Waruku says many have not
reported because of poor preparations by the State, which should have released
information earlier to give parents time to prepare. There are also too many hidden
fees, frequent transfers and poor placement adding to the high cost of living and
parent frustrations.
“We also thought categorization of schools into national, provincial and district
schools had ended with the Prof Munavu report. This creates pressure for kids to
join the top ranked schools (C1 and C2),” he said.
Released in August 2023, the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform
(PWPER) proposed the scrapping of the four-tier clustering of public secondary
schools in favor a career-oriented categorisation dividing schools into three. The
Prof. Raphael Munavu-led team recommended three broad clusters namely;
STEM, Social Science and Arts, and Sports Science.
“Ministry of Education to discontinue categorisation of public Secondary Schools
from the current nomenclature (National, Extra-County, County, and Sub-County)
to career pathways at Senior School,” PWPER proposed. Today, the Ministry of
Education has re-classified the schools into C1, C2, C3 and C4.
Day schools now re-classified as C4 face a dark future due to lack of infrastructure.
In many schools, not a single learner had reported by last weekend. Only 61pc of
learners had reported by last Sunday
According to Dr Vincent Gaitho, Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the University
Council, Mount Kenya University (MKU), the Competency-Based Education (CBE
system is not an accident. “Students being forced to attend local day schools
instead of dream national schools where they were invited to. We should have been
better prepared. Kenya is 63 years old,” he said.

“It scares me of what will happen in 2029 when Cohort 1 of CBE enters university.
We must invest and be prepared to face the challenge head on. The Cabinet
secretary for Education should be able to steer the process. The entire echo system
must work; the Education ministry, politicians and NG-CDF,” he said.
Dr Gaitho regretted that everything is now being left to the President. “Are the Css
working? What happened to 100 per cent transition? Why is this impossible with
CBE?” he posed.
Dr Gaitho said while all students take same exam, some get lower marks due to
lack of teachers, laboratories and poor facilities. “Some have to imagine how a
computer or a swimming pool looks like,” he noted.
Although the number of students who got C + and above is going up (the minimum
university qualification), there is a need to review the TVET curriculum. “Private
sector schools in basic education are also not investing in private senior schools,”
he said.
They were speaking as part of a panel of experts hosted by a local TV station to
discuss the crisis in the current intake of students into senior secondary schools.
Former nominated MP and Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) secretary
general Wilson Sossion said the problem did not start today. “We are not tracing
the root cause of the problem. It started in 2016 when the change of curriculum
was introduced without proper planning,” he said.
Sossion said in 2022, KNUT did a report on the collapse of basic education.
“Teachers were not prepared for the CBC curriculum. The government admitted its
mistakes and said curricula review was an ongoing process. The State has also
taken a deliberate step to reform the Teachers Service Commission and instituted
extensive curriculum changes,” he added.
He praised the placement of junior schools in primary schools since senior schools
could have been overwhelmed.
On the current Grade 10 reporting crisis, Sossion said school fees are putting
pressure on parents and on demand for bursaries. “Parents are also choosy on the
schools available. There is need to mop up the pupils at home,” noted.
Mr Yusuf Chanzu, former MP for Vihiga constituency said government institutions
are not working resulting in 700,000 learners being stranded at home. “Presidential
Commissions reports in the education sector are not implemented. The President

keeps boasting about how many teachers he has employed. Where is the TSC
Teachers Service?”
He decried lack of continuous investment in the education sector. “Commissions,
Parliament and other institutions are not working. It starts with corruption in
General Elections process, which results in poor leadership” he noted.
The panelists said the children and parents have been let down by the government
at the KJSEA (Kenya Junior School Education Assessment) level. Problems of
teachers and infrastructure in junior schools still glaring, they said.
“About 74 per cent in senior schools are day scholars. Transition to day schools
must be going up towards 80 per cent. This can only happen if we invest in quality
laboratories, classrooms and other facilities. Transition to senior schools is not a
choice. The road to Singapore is via a skilled human resource,” noted Sossion.
Mr Chanzu regretted that a huge part of the national budget in Kenya is going to
education without proper accountability. “The Cs education not visiting schools
like the CS for Interior, Kipchumba Murkomen, is doing in security. He has
meeting chiefs, sub-chiefs, police in regions to motivate them while at the same
time understanding challenges from the ground level (mashinani),” he said.
The former MP said the entire government information gathering system is not
working, from ministerial advisory committees to the PS office to budget to
Treasury. “It is high time we looked into the information flow. Are there leakages?
The NG-Cdf has a lot of money, about Sh170 million for some constituents.
Parliament is not supervising the use of NG-CDF. MPs even say Sh100 million is
peanuts,” he added.
Mr Waruku criticized the delivery of capitation to schools, which is charactised by
late disbursement of inadequate funds. He said since the mechanism of reporting in
the Education ministry is not working, the CEOs must take decisive actions.
“Even the information about 700,000 learners still at home came from the Ministry
of Interior,” he regretted.
Mr Sossion called for quality assurance on the buildings being constructed using
NG-cdf funds in schools. “There is no supervision on the use of CDF funds. Some
schools have over 100,000 applications, yet nobody wants to join others. The CDF
can remain with MPs, but we need accountability. Maybe a national conference on
NG-CDF accountability now could a starting point,” he said.