Kakamega Primary School and Junior Secondary School Grade 9 learners during a lesson on January 6, 2025. Learners are expected to pick their senior schools before undertaking the Kenya Junior School Education Assessment in November.
Technical hitches have disrupted the Ministry of Education’s recently launched career pathway selection process for Grade 9 learners, forcing several schools to postpone the crucial exercise.
The system failure, which hit just days after the rollout was announced, left many schools particularly in rural areas with poor network connectivity unable to access the online portal.
A Nation spot check revealed that most schools had to defer the selection of subjects and career pathways to next week.
This setback comes as the Ministry begins sensitising key education stakeholders especially parents, guardians, and teachers on how to support learners through the transition to Senior School under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
Basic Education Principal Secretary Prof Julius Bitok, speaking in Turbo, Uasin Gishu County during the commissioning of a new multipurpose hall at ACK Kaplelach High School, downplayed the technical issues and assured the public that the exercise is still ongoing.
He encouraged parents and guardians to actively help their children make informed choices, noting that the selection process is straightforward.
Meanwhile, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has continued with its push for a 60 percent salary increment for teachers in the proposed 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Knut says the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) should fast-track the negotiation of a new CBA to avert disruption of learning.
“Teachers want the employer to begin negotiations on the new CBA as the current one is set to expire in two weeks. Any delays could disrupt learning in our schools. The absence of a CBA may cause chaos,” said Knut Deputy Secretary-General Hesbon Otieno.
Under the proposed CBA, teachers are demanding a 60 percent salary increment and a 30 percent rise in allowances.
Speaking during the union’s Mombasa branch Annual General Meeting at Ronald Ngala Primary School, Mr Otieno warned the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) against interfering with their proposals.
“Teachers need money and we won’t accept anything less. We are also warning SRC against any deductions from our demands. At the negotiation table, we must talk about money. The implementation matrix will be handled by TSC,” he said.
Mr Otieno also praised the government for allocating substantial funding to the education sector in the current budget, saying the Sh7.2 billion allocated to TSC should partly be used to promote more teachers and ensure fairness.
The Knut official further underscored the need for clear policies to guide the transition from Junior to Senior School, especially as learners begin choosing their subject clusters and career pathways.
“That’s why, even as they propose policies involving both day and boarding wings, and as they plan how to bring together students from different backgrounds into one compound, these factors must be closely examined to inform sound policy decisions,” said Mr Otieno.
He said Knut is closely monitoring the transition process to ensure no learner is left behind.
“It would be foolish for us to bury our heads in the sand and not take a keen interest in how this transition is being handled in the country,” he said.
