Nairobi — President William Ruto says the government will complete the construction of 11,000 Junior Secondary School classrooms by January next year.
Speaking during a church service in Moiben, Uasin Gishu, the head of state indicated that the government through the Ministry of Education and the National Treasury has laid out plans to avert any hiccups.
"Next year, we shall be having Grade 9 and we need more classrooms, the government has laid down plans we are in the process of completing 11,000 classrooms for Grade 9," President Ruto said.
Parents and stakeholders have raised concerns over the impact of infrastructural gaps on students' education quality, especially in rural areas where facilities are limited.
The lack of fully prepared junior secondary facilities has led some to advocate for moving Grade 9 to secondary schools, although the Ministry of Education has confirmed that it will remain in the current primary-level junior secondary settings to ensure continuity and adherence to CBC guidelines
"The future of our children is important for us as parents and as a nation, how we plan for them and how we educate them is important for us as a nation," the President said.
President Ruto also rallied Members of Parliament to use the NG-CDF kitty which received an additional Sh3.5 billion in the current financial year to join efforts in constructing 6,000 more classrooms in the quest to boost infrastructural development in primary schools.
He implored lawmakers to ensure that by next year the classes are constructed to avert any hiccups in the transition.
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"You are going to match a shilling for a shilling to help us construct more than 6,000 classes so that we can have a smooth transition to Grade 9," he noted.
Students transition to Grade 9 within the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) has raised several concerns. A primary fear is that many junior secondary schools lack adequate infrastructure, with around 1,600 schools still without laboratories.
This shortage has led the government to consider virtual labs and the construction of 16,000 new classrooms by next year to support the incoming Grade 9 cohort.
There's also a need for additional teacher training to meet the CBC requirements, particularly for specialized subjects like STEM, which is a key focus of the new curriculum.
The president promised that the government will from January next year recruit 20,000 new intern teachers after transitioning 46,000 JSS teachers into permanent and pensionable terms.
