The Ministry of Education will from January 9 conduct a countrywide assessment to establish readiness in admitting Grade 7 learners.

The assessment will be conducted in all public and private primary schools through to January 20.

Basic Education Principal secretary Belio Kipsang has said the main agenda for the assessment is to ensure 100 per cent transition of Grade 6 learners to Grade 7, in the existing primary schools.

“We ask all parties involved to train the school management on the ministry’s guideline on the set up of junior secondary schools in Kenya,” he said.

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Through a statement, Kipsang asked stakeholders in the ministry to ensure all public and private primary schools are assessed as per the guidelines.

“Ensure institutions have met the threshold of 60 per cent and above of the requirements duly registered,” he added.

On December 1, 2022, the CBC task force recommended that junior secondary learners be domiciled in existing primary schools.

The report submitted to the President directed that the ministry should add additional classrooms and a laboratory.

“The construction of laboratories will be given priority within the next one year. Members of Parliament are asked to work towards providing support for the extra facilities,” the report reads.

The team led by chairman Raphael Munavu also recommended that the summative assessment should not be used to place learners in JSS.

“Instead, it will be used as an assessment to monitor learning progress and provide feedback to education sector players on areas that require intervention,” the report reads.

Plans for High school teachers to begin a 10-month training on Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) are complete and the tutors are likely to pursue the training from February 2023.

Those targeted for the upgrading programme are at least 110,000 secondary school teachers who will handle junior secondary schools.

The tutors are set to be retooled on the mechanisms of handling Grade 7,8 and 9 which will be junior secondary classes under CBC.

From the figures, all secondary school teachers, starting with those charged with teaching subjects under the new curriculum in junior secondary section, will have to be retooled.

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Early this year, Education Cabinet Secretary prof George Magoha, maintained that the 10-month training for teachers will help in handling the upcoming Grade 7 learners.

While giving a speech at Kapsabet Girls High School in Nandi County, the CS confirmed that the training will be conducted between February and December 2023.

In January 2023, Grade 6 learners will transition to Junior secondary schools, which will comprise of Grades 7, 8 and 9.

According to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), the 110,000 secondary school teachers will be retooled to enable them respond to the demands of Competency Based Curriculum (CBC).

Further TSC maintains that new learning areas introduced under the system have made it mandatory for all teachers to go back to school to gain skills on how to handle the subject adjustments as the secondary schools prepare for a double intake in 2023.

In a letter to Basic Education Principal Secretary Dr Julius Jwan, TSC Chief Executive Nancy Macharia said that there are some new subjects which require teachers to be trained and hired.

Those requiring special attention include pre-technical and pre-vocational education, life skills, agriculture and health education.

Others are optional subjects such as indigenous languages, Kenya sign language, visual arts and performing arts.

Macharia said that all home science and biology teachers will have to be retrained to enable them handle health education. Additionally, those in social studies must be taught how to teach new content on citizenship while those for sports and physical education must be enabled to deal with sports and health.

The commission recommends an overhaul of the teacher education curriculum to meet the special demands of CBC.

“We advise and recommend that the teacher education curriculum should be made flexible and aligned to enable a single teacher to teach a variety of subjects,” said Macharia in her letter to Jwan, which is an official advisory on the teacher preparation and requirements as the country gears up for the establishment of junior and senior secondary schools in under two years.

In April, the retooling will be in form of five-day face to face training while subsequent continuous learning on the new subject areas will shift online.

Already upgrading programme for primary school teachers kicked off and the candidates will sit for their final assessment and practicum this July.