Taskforce recommends abolishing of national school clusters

By Peter Ochieng

President William Ruto on Tuesday received the final report of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform (PWPER).

The Head of State formed the taskforce upon assuming office after the August 2022 polls to review and provide recommendations where necessary.

The Professor Raphael Munavu led PWPER has proposed among others, the scrapping of the four-tier clustering of public secondary schools in favor of a career-oriented categorization.

Munavu’s team recommended three broad clusters namely; STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), Social Science and Arts, and Sports Science.

“Ministry of Education to discontinue categorization of public Secondary Schools from the current language (National, Extra-County, County and Sub-County) to career pathways at Senior School,” a section of the report reads.

“The current categorization of schools is unfair as national schools are more advanced in terms of resources while county and sub-county schools are lagging behind.”

Members of the working party recommended the establishment of low-cost boarding schools in marginalized areas, as well as resource support for sub-county schools to enable build capacity for the three pathways.

The Munavu team proposed the adoption of a 2-6-3-3-3 education curriculum team, with 2 years in Pre-Primary School; 6 years in Primary School, 3 years in Junior School (JS), 3 years in Senior School (SS) and a minimum of 3 years at the University. Other recommendations are:

Invest in foundational learning, like basic literacy and numeracy, to build higher-order skills

Reduce the number of subjects in schools at different levels

Rename Education Management Information System (EMIS) to Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS) and integrate birth registration and student records

Establish Kenya School of Teacher and Education Management (KESTEM) and Kenya Teacher Training College (KETTC) for teacher training

Transfer Quality Assurance and Standards functions at TSC to the Ministry of Education and strengthen the Directorate of Quality Assurance and Standards

Provide one-year mandatory retooling and internship programs for pre-service training graduates

Support schools with low enrollment through a minimum essential package

Implement revised capitation based on the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) and review every three years

Coordinate bursaries and scholarships under the Kenya Basic Education Bursaries and Scholarship Council

Develop guidelines for accelerated education programs for marginalized groups, learners with special needs, and adult education

Link TVETs with industries and create pathways between TVET and Universities Establish a sustainable financing model for university education to ensure equitable access

Enact the proposed Tertiary Education Placement and Funding Bill to enhance efficiency in higher education funding

Ring-fence resources for Vocational Training Centers (VTCs) at both National and County levels

Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to employ pastors and Imams in schools in order to promote Value-based Education (VBE) President

Ruto thanked members of the taskforce for a job well done, and assured them that all the recommendations will be fully implemented.