Final Recommendations on the Implementation of Competency-Based Curriculum

1. Adopt a 2-6-3-3-3 Education Structure: 2 years Pre-Primary School; 6 years Primary School, 3 years Junior School (JS), 3 years Senior School (SS) and a minimum of 3 years at University. MoE to establish a comprehensive school system where all levels of learning from Pre-Primary to Grade 9 are managed as one institution headed by Head of Institution; TSC to provide career progression guidelines for teachers in comprehensive schools; and provide guidelines on Alternative Provision of Basic Education and
2. KICD to rationalise the number of learning areas and curriculum designs in terms of scope, integration of subjects within a learning area, gaps, content overload and overlaps in Basic Education as follows:

1. • Pre-Primary (PP1-PP2): the learning areas not to exceed five (5);
   • Lower Primary (Grade 1-3): The learning areas not to exceed seven (7);
   • Upper Primary (Grade 4-6): The learning areas not to exceed eight (8);
   • Junior School (Grade 7-9): The learning areas not to exceed nine (9);
   • Senior School (Grade 10-12): The learning areas not to exceed (7) Subjects; and
   • Review CSL to reduce overload, overlaps, cost and promote community linkages; and adapt all SNE learning resources including those for stage based curriculum at levels of basic
2. MoE to discontinue categorisation of public Secondary Schools from the current nomenclature (National, Extra-County, County, and Sub-County) to career pathways (STEM, Social Science and Arts and Sports Science) at Senior School; and to enhance equity and inclusion, promote the establishment of low-cost boarding Primary schools in marginalised areas; focus on infrastructural and resources support for sub-County Senior Schools to offer the three
3. KNEC to review the Competency-Based Assessment Framework to restructure KPSEA for purposes of monitoring learners’ progress and providing feedback to stakeholders — not for placement; provide an assessment framework for Alternative Provision for Basic Education and Training; develop mechanisms for administering assessments within the school daily routine. Assessment for various levels to be as follows:

• At Grade 6: KPSEA to be computed as cumulative score of SBAs for Grade 4-6 for purposes of monitoring learners’ progress and providing feedback to stakeholders;
• At Grade 9: To comprise 20% of KPSEA, 20% of SBAs in Grade 7 and 8 and 60% summative evaluation at Grade 9; and
• Grade 12: To comprise 70% summative assessment and 30% (SBAs; Assessment of CSL, values and competencies).

5. Integrate key tenets (VbE, CSL, PE&E) to support successful implementation of CBC at all levels of Education and MoE to provide structures and guidelines to implement a Whole School Approach to the implementation of VbE; structured religious/moral instruction and Counselling programs; sensitise parents, caregivers, guardians and the community on their role in the learning process.
6. MoE to provide for:
   • Selection and placement of learners into career pathways to Senior School based on performance and personal
   • Computation of KCSE mean score by KNEC to be based on Mathematics, English/Kiswahili, and 5 other best performed
7. MoE to review the policy guidelines on textbooks and other instructional materials to:
   • conform to the revised curriculum designs;
   • ensure that the best two evaluated textbooks by KICD are supplied to each public school and strengthen KICD’s capacity to publish course books in areas where publishers do not submit manuscripts for
8. Restructure SEPU to School Learning and Instructional Materials Centre (SLIMC) to coordinate the procurement and distribution of MoE approved textbooks and other learning resources. KICD to liaise with School Learning and Instructional Materials Centre (SLIMC) in facilitating procurement of digital resources hosted in Kenya Education Cloud (KEC).
9. MoE to develop guidelines on foundational learning for Early Years
10. MoE with support from MoICT to leverage technology at all levels of education by developing ICT infrastructure for curriculum delivery; improve digital literacy among teachers, parents and other key
11. The Ministry of Education and Ministry of Interior’s Civil Registration Services to integrate registration of births with EMIS and provide a unique identifier for every child from EMIS to be restructured and renamed Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS).
12. Develop the capacity of KNEC to print National Assessments in Kenya.

FORM ONE SELECTIOIN AND ADMISSION FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS/ RECEIVED COMPLAINTS FROM THE PUBLIC

The Fees for County and Extra County schools has also been increased from the current Ksh40,535 to Ksh66,023; which is an increase of Ksh. 25,488.

Read all the details here: Fees Structure Guidelines for Secondary schools 2024

New School Fees For Extra County/ County Schools

West Pokot residents have asked the government to intensify infrastructural facilities in schools within the region to help more children have access to education in more conducive environments.

The participants during a stakeholders’ forum on the 2024/25 to 2026/27 financial years’ medium-term budget-making process underscored the value of empowering schools through enhancing infrastructure, arguing that education will have a great impact on alleviating the issues afflicting the county.

They explained that cases of insecurity bedevilling the county might be resulting from high levels of illiteracy; hence, making education a priority will help empower many children, thus bringing an end to banditry.

“Some of our schools are in poor states because they lack modern facilities. We want the government to allocate more resources towards school infrastructure so that our children get more attracted to learning institutions,” stated Phillip Lomongin, a participant.

Lomongin added that cases of insecurity had gone down in areas where education had been prioritised, calling on the government to increase funding for the sector.

The participants noted that the establishment of peace schools along border points was bearing fruit, hence the need for more in those conflict-prone areas.

At the same time, the participants observed that insecurity issues in the region were being blown out of proportion, since the situation on the ground may not be as dire as Kenyans imagine.

Lomongin suggested that the national government should put more budgets into peacebuilding efforts by making elders the centre of such missions.

KENYA UNION OF POST-PRIMARY EDUCATION TEACHERS

MOE MUST CLEAN ON CAPITATION FUNDS ACCOUNTING

1. KUPPET wishes to express our concern at a sudden change in policy by the Ministry of Education that will throw the management of billions of shillings allocated for Free Secondary Education for the last two financial years into total confusion.
2. On 19 September 2023, the Principal Secretary for Basic Education, Dr Belio Kipsang, issued a Circular Ref. No. MOE.HQS/3/10/18 Vol. II/(1) to all County Directors of Education directing them to demand accountability from Principals for money not received at the schools.
3. Under the Public Financial Management Act and school financial regulations, Principals only account for funds received and used by their institutions. Where the government spends funds on behalf of schools, accountability for such expenditures lies with the Ministry of Education and the recipient agencies – not secondary schools.
4. Indeed, the Circular clearly states, “The Ministry has also remitted to KICD and CEMESTEA KSh100.00 and KSh40 per learner for textbooks and capacity building respectively from the tuition account. Another KSh675.00 per learner has been remitted to NHIF from the operations account to cater for medical insurance (EduAfya) for learners.”
5. Ironically, it demands that Principals confirm receipt of such monies and account for them. Moreover, it directs the County Directors of Education to obtain receipts from Principals for Sh4,002.87 per learner for the third term of 2023, when only Sh3,187.87 per learner were remitted to schools.
6. For the avoidance of doubt, information from Principals indicates that schools have not received any capitation funds for third term of 2023. The Sh3,187.87 remitted on 19 September partially offset the arrears owed from the last financial year (2022/2023) are as below:

1. As per this schedule, the Ministry owes schools Sh905.13 per learner for the last financial year that ended on 30 June 2023. The Ministry owes schools a further Sh5,561 per learner for the first quarter of the current financial year 2023/2024. Cumulatively, this comes to approximately Sh19 billion that schools are yet to receive.
2. Even more important, out of the money so far disbursed to schools, Sh3,449.50 per learner has been retained by the government as per the schedule below.

In total, this over Sh10 billion that Principals did not receive and therefore cannot account for.

1. Even more worryingly, the Circular employs an old accountability model that the Ministry had repealed in June 2022. Up to that time, the government disbursed funds to schools based on school terms, where funds were disbursed three times in a year. However, from July 2022, the government adopted the quarterly disbursement in line with the Treasury’s funding cycle for all public entities.
2. Contrary to the information contained in the Circular, our schools have not received any funding for the third term of 2023. The institutions are grappling with serious financial challenges, unable to pay suppliers of goods and services, school contractors and generally meeting their obligations as they arise.
3. KUPPET urges the government to withdraw the Circular, to disburse the long-delayed funds to schools and take maximum care against possible disruptions to the school calendar at this critical time.
4. In addition to being short, the third term is packed with important academic events including the KPSEA, KCPE and KCSE examinations. Practical components of the KCSE exams including Agriculture and Home Science projects start early in the term, hence the need to guard against any disruptions.
5. To ensure capitation funding match the actual number of students in schools, the union calls for an audit of data in the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS).

The government has from January 2023 disbursed Sh67 billion to public primary and secondary school learners.

Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Ezekiel Machogu said that for the Free Primary Education Programme, the Ministry has released Sh7.9 billion for the nine million learners in public primary schools.

He explained that under the Junior School, the government has disbursed Sh14.7 billion for the one million learners since January this year while Sh44.4 billion has been spent as capitation for the 3.7 million learners enrolled under the Free Day Secondary Education.

“In the Financial Year 2023/2024, the government has allocated Sh51.1 billion to students enrolled in TVET and Universities. Most of these institutions started their 2023/2024 Academic Year in September, 2023,” said the CS.

Machogu added that over the last one month, the government has been receiving and processing applications for loans, bursaries and scholarships from students wishing to be funded by the Government.

According to the CS, on 4th October, 2023, the government, through the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), released Sh10.5 billion for tuition and upkeep loans to continuing students enrolled in Universities and TVET institutions, under the Old Funding Model.

He disclosed that the upkeep loans for 206,123 undergraduate and 72,546 TVET continuing students under the Old Higher Education Funding Model have been disbursed to students as per their respective preferred payment channels.

“Each of the benefitting students in university receives a minimum loan of Sh37, 000 and a maximum of Sh60, 000. On the other hand, each successful TVET trainee is awarded an average of Sh40, 000 per annum,” said Machogu.

Machogu highlighted that in September 2023, the government released grants worth Sh8.4 billion as capitation to students in public universities and Sh441 million for continuing students in Private Universities. On the other hand, a total of Sh1.3 billion was released as capitation to continuing trainees in various TVET Colleges.

Additionally, the CS said that on July 31, 2023, the government launched the student application process for the higher education scholarships and loans for the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examination cohort who were placed to universities and TVET institutions for the 2023/2024 Academic Year.

“Although the deadline for application was initially September 7th, 2023, this was extended to October 7th, 2023, to give all eligible applicants the opportunity to submit their documents, in the spirit of leaving no student behind,” explained the CS.

Machogu said that as of October 4th, 2023, a total of 238,714 applications had been submitted.

He said some 269,112 students were placed by KUCCPS to Universities and TVET institutions and were eligible for Government funding. This means that 3,608 and 26,790 students placed in universities and TVET institutions respectively are yet to apply.

“This number is expected to rise after the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service validates the data of students who have transferred to different degree programmes or universities,” said the CS.

He remarked that the Universities Fund and HELB have commenced the processing of scholarships and bursaries for all students who have already applied.

“The government wishes to assure students, parents, guardians and the higher education institutions that all efforts are being made to ensure that the loans and scholarships are released to applicants on time to facilitate their learning activities,” said Machogu.

In the meantime, Machogu said that, Universities and TVET institutions are under firm instructions to admit and keep students who have reported even in cases where they do not have any fees. “So far, 86.6 per cent (121,367) of the 140,147 students have reported to universities that have commenced studies for the 2023/2024 Academic Year. The number is expected to rise as more universities open. Students’ admission to TVET institutions are conducted on a rolling basis,” he said.

Machogu urged all the eligible students who are yet to apply to make a formal application for scholarships and loans through the Higher Education Financing portal (www.hef.co.ke).

The Principal Secretary (PS) State Department for Basic Education, Dr. Belio Kipsang, has announced that the National Government, will in the next Financial Year 2023/2024, double funding for schools’ meals programme, from Sh 2 billion to 4 billion shillings and work closely with County Governments, in order to increase the feeding and retention of children in schools.

He indicated that food and nutrition play a very critical role in the wellbeing of the learners in terms of the development of their cognitive abilities.

The PS was speaking when he presided over the launch of the School Milk Programme in Uasin Gishu County.

He alluded that the overall call for the school feeding programme, is to support the government towards attaining universal primary education and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, which is in line with the Kenya Kwanza Education Charter.

“The school meals programme is a powerful way of incentivising our young ones into enrolling in our schools and increasing the numbers of those who are in school and reducing those who are out of school,” he said.

He noted that the school meals programme, had become an important strategy for reaching to the marginalized and the vulnerable communities and those who are in the buffets of poverty and the urban poor.

PS confirmed that the National Government provides porridge in the early learning institutions in the informal urban settlement, to support learners.

Dr. Kipsang said that it is a collective responsibility to partner at all levels of government, to make sure that the children are able to be in school as he reaffirmed the government’s commitment and determination, to provide school milk in all the ASAL areas, informal settlement areas, special needs children and sub urban areas.

The Education PS noted that, to ensure sustainability of the feeding programme, the government, through the Ministry of Education, will work together with the governors on what is called the Home-Grown School Meals Programme, where the local communities will provide the necessary ingredients such as milk and grains, to facilitate the programme.

The Home-Grown Programme will benefit both the education and the agricultural sectors.

“For instance, our local farmers in Uasin Gishu are dairy farmers, so we are buying milk from our farmers and therefore giving them an income. The household is benefiting twice by getting an income from milk and also benefiting by their children getting a meal in school,” explained the PS.

He called on governors across all the 47 counties to support the initiative, which is a win-win for the agricultural and the education sectors, noting that it is key for it will increase enrolment, stabilize the learner’s attendance to school, increase gender parity because children of both genders will be in school and improve transition and at the same time contribute to improve the health and nutrition sector for the children.

On the agriculture side, it will link the school meals to the local agricultural production, it will also increase the smallholder farmers’ access to the school feeding market that is there.

PS noted that the programme will encourage and improve production practices among the small-scale farmers and increase direct purchase for the smallholder farmers.

“I would also want to encourage our other governors, that let’s work together, in area where you can provide fortified porridge, let’s do it, if you are in area where you can provide milk let’s do it so that at the end of the day, we are supporting our local communities, to be able to move on,” he said.

He commended the step the County Administration has made to provide school milk for the ECDE schools in the County, which he said, will increase retention, transition and ensure there is success in access to quality education.

“Children at this particular age are at the stage of fastest growth and development of their brain and for the brain to develop, we need proper nutrition and what they would get from this milk, will be able to assist them to be the future that they would be,” said. Dr. Kipsang.

Calling on the other governors to emulate the step governor Chelilim had made in introducing school milk, the PS reiterated the importance of investing in foundational learning, which is the ECDE, noting that it serves to reduce in future the investment government will put in higher levels of learning.

“Research has confirmed that when we give a proper foundation, when we invest well in ECDE and foundational learning, the cost of education in the future, will go down by up to 15 percent,” he noted.

“By doing so, you are investing and making it easy for the rest of us who manage education at higher level from primary, secondary and into the university to a very substantial extent to reduce the investment that we shall put in the next level of learning, because you would have facilitated that particular aspect,” he added.

The Ministry of Education has released the 2024 form one online joining instructions for all National, Extra County and County schools.

RE: ONLINE FORM ONE 2024 JOINING INSTRUCTIONS

The Ministry is preparing for the conduct of the 2024 Form One selection exercise. In order to aid in the realization of this important national activity, all National, Extra County and County schools are required to make changes to their previous calling letters through an online tool to reflect joining instructions for the year 2024.

Schools are to follow these steps in editing the joining instructions;-

1. Use the link to check whether your joining instructions are in the system. https://script.google.com/macros/s/AKfycbxa3hIYfgXvVful1eyumdBlyLVUxN4Q75lT4E-BaddTzhzjX-Y9uCwW9f7SHy3hBZjixg/exec Select County and Sub-County of your school,then Select your
2. If the system prompts you to sign in,use your school email address(Gmail Account).
3. If your letter is in the system,edit the information to the new changes for joining instructions 2024

NB: Do not edit the first page apart from changing the year to 2024.

In case the school’s joining instructions is missing, the system will prompt the principal to upload the joining instructions in the system from their computer. The principal should then ensure that;

1. The first page is as the attached copy (Insert school logo/address on the first page only). Page one should not be edited.
2. The letter should be in Ms-word
3. The letter should be submitted as one document
4. (e.g.,Meru School save as 15300002).

In case the principal experience any challenges, they are requested to contact the following numbers:

• Lawrence Karuntimi: 0721142565,
• Patrick: 0722823971.

updating of joining instructions should be done by 30thOctober 2023, thereafter the system will not be available for editing.

MeanwhilethePrincipalsareremindedthatthecircularfromthePrincipalSecretaryonuniformsand boarding requirements dated 30thMay 2023(copy attached) still stands. For clarity, it is reiterated that;

a)      No school will direct parents to any particular outlet for the purpose of purchasing uniforms

1. No school will stock any uniforms and boarding related items

Schools are asked to indicate the requirements with specifications only and parents are free to shop for them as they report.