The Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (KESSHA) Chairperson Indimuli Kahi on Wednesday, October 6, called upon the Ministry of Education to halt the transition of Grade six learners to boarding schools.
Kahi argued that the pupils are too young to transition to boarding schools when most are used to private schools.
Speaking at the Kenya School of Government to mark World Teachers' Day, the secondary schools heads' boss dismissed claims of boarding schools offering top-notch education.
"The question of transition should be looked at again. I know the fear the parents may have is the age the learners will be joining the schools. As Kenyans, we believe that good education is only found in boarding schools but this is far from the truth," Ndimuli stated
"Boarding schools alone can not be centers of excellence," he added.
He opined that the young learners should remain in day schools and commute home like their counterparts in neighboring East African countries.
"Time has come that as a nation we must rethink, boarding school. Our children should remain in day schools so that they can report home to their parents in the evening," he said.
The first-of-its-kind transition to Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) has faced hurdles with many questioning the measures put by the government.
The outgoing Cabinet Secretary for Education Prof George Magoha had ruled out the scrapping of boarding schools in early 2022.
"Why would one imagine that we want to dismantle boarding schools, it doesn't make sense. Mine is to see we have to remain firm and deal with rowdy students,” Magoha stated.
A Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) put in place by the former Education CS, in 2021 proposed the scrapping of boarding in secondary schools under the new curriculum.
"Boarding schools should be left for a few institutions to admit learners in the country who pursue various pathways in senior secondary," the task force stated.
Grade Six pupils, who are CBC pioneer candidates will sit a national test in December before transitioning to Junior Secondary Schools in January 2023.
President William Ruto has already named a taskforce to review the curriculum that has faced resistance from a section of stakeholders, including parents.
