Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu on Thursday, March 2, addressed parents' fears regarding the transition of students to the Junior Secondary School (JSS).
First, the CS discredited reports that learning in public JSS was inferior to that in private JSS.
"The information going round depicting learning in public JSS to be inferior or less from that of private JSS is not true" the CS indicated.
Using information from the evaluation results of the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) 2022 done by learners who are now in Grade 7, the CS noted that public schools did well.
Furthermore, the CS addressed the issue of financial challenges parents experience when registering their children to JSS.
To this end, Machogu advised parents who are challenged financially to take their children to the nearest day secondary school where fees is fully catered by the government.
The CS was speaking while in Kisii county where he is leading the multi-agency team in the mop-up exercise to achieve 100 per cent transition to Grade 7 and form one.
Machogu further assured Kenyans that the level of preparedness in JSS across the country was commendable indicating that the teachers recruited were well-equipped to handle the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
According to the CS, already 96 per cent of learners have already been registered for Grade 7 under JSS.
“From the enrolment percentage, we still have 15,640 learners who are yet to report JSS,” he noted.
The CS also noted that form one enrolment was at 91 percent across the country as of Wednesday, March 1.
He urged parents to exercise patience with their children as they are in transition and to avoid any panic noting that the government was fully prepared.
The CS further affirmed that the Presidential working party on Education reforms came up with the recommendations for the implementation of CBC and domiciling of JSS in primary schools and the government is not going back to 8-4-4.
