Two weeks after the May 20 deadline for choosing senior secondary schools and academic courses passed without the Ministry of Education taking any action, over a million Grade 9 students are still stuck, indicating an impending crisis in the education sector.
The Ministry’s preparedness to execute the next crucial stage of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), which is scheduled to formally launch in January 2025, has been severely hampered by the delay, which has caused widespread anxiety among parents and students.
The main cause of the misunderstanding is the lack of proper school classification, a crucial stage that has delayed the national selection portal’s implementation.
Without it, students have been unable to complete an exercise that was supposed to be finished weeks ago: selecting their chosen schools or career paths. In the event that the school selection deadline is missed, grade 9 students are left in limbo.
Julius Bitok, the principal secretary for basic education, promised stakeholders at the National Conversation on Competency-Based Education in April that school selection would start on May 20.
However, neither the Ministry nor the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) provided any additional information after the date passed.
“The launch of the selection portal is still pending. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a teacher at a public junior secondary school in Nairobi stated, “Time is running out and neither the Ministry nor KNEC have communicated.”
In accordance with the CBC structure, students in Grade 9 must select from 12 schools—9 boarding and 3 day schools—across three professional pathways: performing and sports arts, humanities, and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
It was anticipated that the current cohort would lead this selection process because they were the first under the new method.
https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/education/article/2001520521/grade-9-learners-left-in-limbo-as-school-selection-deadline-missed
According to the Kenya Primary Schools Heads Association (KEPSHA), the selection procedure has not yet started. But according to KEPSHA Chairman Fuad Ali, the Ministry has promised stakeholders that the exercise will start in the upcoming weeks.
