Two public primary schools in Kirinyaga West do not have a junior secondary class for lack of basic infrastructure.
The two, Sagana Muslim primary and Kahiro primary both in Kariri ward, do not have a grade seven class-thus will not be having any pupils doing the Junior School exam known as the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA).
At Kahiro primary there are 160 pupils from nursery to grade 8 exempting grade seven.
Kirinyaga West Sub County Education Director Kamemba Kamande said the schools did not meet the scores that had been placed by the ministry to qualify to accommodate junior learners.
Among the basic requirements were sanitation blocks among learning facilities.
“The two schools scored low marks in the score sheet, they did not have any sanitation facilities, which was a requirement” said Mr. Kamande.
Sources in the two schools also insinuated the Sh 10,000 capitation given by the government is not enough to even buy chalks for teachers and meet other school expenses.
The low enrollment had been attributed to massive transfers to neighboring schools perceived to perform better than them.
Another challenge is absence of parents in the lives of their children leaving it to the elderly grannies who will be out working as casual laborers influencing the learners to also look for their money.
“Our main challenge is how to transform the school. Another challenge is that capitation from the government is not enough to buy reference books apart from the course books given by the government when will we ever match with schools like Rwang’ondu and Kinyaga?” posed a source.
Kamande said a grade seven class is expected in 2024 if the schools management meets the requirements.
Parents have also been urged to embrace learning in the institutions and be ready to cooperate with the government in giving quality education-this is allowing tuition so as to catch up with other schools.
Another major challenge is lack of enough teachers as the school has only ten teachers for the 160 pupils.
“Parents do not even have an idea of what is needed for Junior secondary-we are holding meetings with parents so as to give them an idea of the new curriculum” a teacher disclosed.
By Caroline Wangechi
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