Corporate

State to spend Sh6 billion on free junior secondary

Education CS Ezekiel Machogu

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu during the release of the Form One students placement results for the 2022 KCPE candidates at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) on January 16, 2023. PHOTO | LUCY WANJIRU | NMG

The government has directed that each learner transiting to Grade Seven in a public school be allocated Sh15,000 as capitation for free junior secondary education.

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu said Monday that President William Ruto ordered the National Treasury to set aside funds to facilitate the students in junior secondary.

“In total, the government will spend Sh6 billion for the learners in junior secondary schools this calendar year,” said Mr Machogu during the release of Form One placement results at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).

The Sh15,000 is slightly lower than the Sh22,244 the government releases annually per learner as a capitation to facilitate free secondary education.

A total of 1,253,577 learners sat the 2022 Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) in 32,555 centres across the country.

The first cohort of learners joining junior secondary school under the competency-based curriculum (CBC) –which will be domiciled in existing primary schools– is expected to report to their respective schools on January 30, 2023.

Under CBC, elementary education is divided into pre-primary and primary education, taking two and six years, respectively. Junior secondary starts from Grade Seven up to Grade Nine.

The government started the rollout of the CBC in 2018.

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