NAIROBI, Kenya — The Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (KESSHA) is advocating for the Ministry of Education to reassign Grade 8 and 9 learners from primary to secondary schools, citing a lack of adequate resources in primary institutions.
KESSHA Chairman Willy Kuria announced while at Murang’a High School that he will lead discussions with the government to address the issue.
Currently, Junior Secondary School (JSS) students from Grades 7 to 9 are placed in primary schools.
“As secondary school heads, we had proposed this and we still stand by it,” Kuria stated. “Part of the JSS classes should be in secondary schools and another part in primary schools.”
Kuria emphasized that secondary schools are better equipped to handle the educational needs of Grades 8 and 9 due to their access to more resources, including empty classrooms, laboratories, and a larger pool of teachers.
“Secondary schools have more resources to cater to the needs of the learners,” Kuria explained. “With secondary schools’ existing infrastructure, we can provide a better learning environment for these students.”
The government has committed to building 16,000 classrooms to accommodate Grade 9 students in primary schools by 2025.
However, construction has yet to commence, raising concerns among school heads about the preparedness of primary schools to manage these grades effectively.
Kuria also raised concerns about the long tenure students would spend in primary schools under the current system.
With learners spending 11 years in primary school and only three in secondary school, there are doubts about their readiness for university education.
“With 11 years in primary and only three in secondary school, we are doubtful that these students will be well prepared to join university,” Kuria said. “During our time, we spent six years in high school and seven years in primary school, which better prepared us for university.”
In addition to the proposal for shifting grades, Kuria urged the government to ensure timely disbursement of funds to secondary schools. Delays in capitation have hindered the smooth operations of these institutions.
Currently, schools have received approximately KSh 10,400 out of the KSh 22,244 allocated per student annually, an amount Kuria deems insufficient.
“We want the entire capitation to be directed to schools so that we can continue to advance our activities as far as tuition and operations accounts are concerned,” he said.
