The government is lagging behind schedule in its plan to implement reforms and changes laws that were proposed by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms (PWPER) in June 2023.
Whereas the PWPER set clear timelines for effecting the recommendations it made through an implementation matrix, many of the proposed changes have not seen the light of day while some have not been well received by stakeholders.
The Education ministry developed 11 amendment Bills to align the recommendations to law and the National Education Policy (Sessional Paper).
However, they are yet to get Cabinet approval for them to be tabled before Parliament.
A recent casualty of implementing recommendations of the PWPER without aligning them to the law is the quashing by the High Court of the Variable Scholarship and Loan Fund (VSLF) model for higher education.
The proposed changes cut across the education sector from pre-school to tertiary. The PWPER had set timelines ranging from immediate implementation to three years and suggested changes to laws where applicable.
Following the phasing out of the 8-4-4 structure of education in primary schools, the next phase of the competency-based curriculum (CBC) moves to secondary schools which will now be referred to as senior schools.
The PWPER had given the ministry six months to discontinue categorisation of public secondary schools from the current nomenclature and classify them according to the career pathways they will offer.
However, the categorisation still remains and secondary schools are still referred to as national, extra-county, county or sub-county schools.
The pioneer CBC class will transition to senior school in 2026 but there are still no guidelines of how the transition will be executed.
The MoE had been given one year by the PWPER to formulate guidelines for placement of learners into the various career pathways that they will pursue at senior school.
“Develop guidelines for the selection and placement of learners into career pathways as they transition to senior school based on performance, interests, and competencies (including use of aptitude test),” the recommendation reads.
The pathways are science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem), social science, and arts and sports science.
The Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA) will be administered at the end of Grade 9 and will be used to place the learners to senior school.
The Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) last year piloted the KJSEA in all the counties.
However, the council is behind schedule in the provision of mechanisms for setting and printing national assessment in Kenya, as recommended by the working party.
It also recommended that the Directorate of Quality Assurance and Standards at the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) be disbanded in six months and the function transferred to the MoE.
This has not been done and two departments still exist at both the TSC and at the ministry.
Likewise, the transfer of all curriculum support officers to the MoE has not been done. According to proposal, the role was to be renamed zonal quality assurance and standards officers.
The TSC was required to harmonise teacher management guidelines, in consultation with MoE.
The guidelines were to apply to deployment, promotion of teachers and institutional administrators and welfare of teachers.
The current promotions and deployment of teachers is still being carried out by the commission only.
The ministry has also delayed restructuring the School Equipment Production Unit to School Learning and Instructional Materials Centre (SLIMC).
The new unit was meant to coordinate the procurement and distribution of textbooks and other learning resources within one year.
However, the function is still under the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD). Currently, distribution of Grade 9 is ongoing ahead of the schools opening next week.
Whereas schools are grappling with inadequate funding, the PWPER had recommended that within two years, the government adopt a minimum essential package for basic education institution to cater, especially for schools with low enrolment.
