Magoha asks private schools to retain pupils in their JSS
Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha yesterday urged private schools to retain students transiting from Grade Six to Junior Secondary School (JSS) in their current institutions until Year Nine.
He advised that the schools should only allow the students to move to other schools when they are joining senior secondary schools.
“I would like to encourage private schools that for purposes of JSS, it would be very important for parents who already have their children in private schools to retain them in JSS that are established in those schools so that the cutthroat competition that comes after Standard 8 be postponed to Year Nine,” said the CS.
Prof Magoha noted that the government was finalising the criteria of placing students in JSS before releasing it to the public in the near future saying the current Grade Six pupils will be informed of the placement criteria to JSS in due course.
Public interest
The CS made the remarks at Moi Educational Centre in Nairobi when he assessed its preparedness to implement the JSS phase.
“I would want to assure the parents and children that for those who are so afraid that their children will go to private schools and especially into private boarding schools, there is no reason for those children in private schools, for now, to move out of those schools for at least just one additional year so that they will also be a little older when they start competing for places in senior schools,” the CS added.
Magoha explained that at least 5,000 JSS classrooms will be established in private schools, with 1,296 already completed.
“We will ask the private schools, which will have JSS classrooms and will have been ready for JSS also to allow us to let the children apply in the public platform so that they are placed through that platform… but that does not stop others from going to those schools,” said the CS.
He said the Ministry will continue working until the next Government is sworn in. Since the Government is continuous, Magoha urged the schools not to be afraid that he will not be there as Education minister when the transition happens in January next year.
“There will be another Kenyan who might even be more qualified and better than me in terms of management. The children’s future is safe,” said Magoha.
Going forward, he said the Government has completed almost all the construction works for CBC classrooms, with only places like Bungoma and just a few counties in the Rift Valley lagging behind.
“We want to be sure that all classrooms are built and we are hoping that we work together because we have about 1.2 million registered in Grade 6 that is going to transit to Grade 7 next year, some in public, others in private schools,” he said.
Trained teachers
The CS affirmed the Government is up to the task to implement CBC and has already trained teachers and the process is expected to continue.
“The only thing that is left for the Government to come public about is precisely how the children will select the schools they will go to though it is almost complete.
And having taught in universities, the CS pronounced that CBC is the right thing for children in this century and is being practised in many counties across the world.
He urged politicians to give professionals space to implement CBC saying there are policies to drive the curriculum.
