Senior School Transition: What are Grade Nine's Next Steps?

The end of 2025 will mark the transition of grade 9 learners into senior school. Senior school comprises three grades, from grade 10 to grade 12.

The end of grade 12 will mark the final phase of basic education under the Competency-based Curriculum (CBC) in Kenya. This year's grade nine class (2025) is the pioneer cohort of the CBC system, which was introduced in 2017.

The former government, led by Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy president, William Ruto, launched the CBC curriculum, which replaced the 8-4-4 curriculum that had been in place for the past 40 years.

The pioneer class, grade 9 of 2025, will sit for the Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA) in November of this year (2025), the first national exam held at the Junior School level under the CBC curriculum.

KJSEA, a national summative assessment, will be administered by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC). It will account for 60% of the total 100%, while the school-based assessment will account for 40%.

After KJSEA, the learners will be placed in different schools based on their career paths. Although the junior schools (grades 7-9) were domiciled in primary schools, the senior schools (grades 10 - 12) will be domiciled in the present secondary schools.

The four tiers of the present secondary schools, comprising National schools, extra county schools, county schools, and sub-county schools, will all absorb the present grade nine learners, depending on their individual career paths.

However, under CBC, the categorization of schools will cease, and learners will be placed in senior schools based on three career paths. The three career paths are; Science, Technology, and Mathematics (STEM), Social Sciences and Arts and sports.

STEM has four tracks, which are Pure Science, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering, as well as Career Technology Studies (CTS).

Social Science has two tracks: Humanities and Business Studies, and Language and Literature.

Arts and Sports has three tracks: Performing Arts, Sports, and Visual Arts.

A learner will be placed in senior school based on how the KJSEA results align with the three pathways' requirements. In addition, schools will consider their staffing and infrastructural capacity when accommodating the grade 9 graduates.

For instance, the present national schools have the best facilities in the country, so they can comfortably accommodate learners across the three pathways.

Nevertheless, some extra-county schools have limited infrastructure capacity, limiting them to absorbing learners of only two career pathways.

Apart from using KJSEA to determine the career path a learner will pursue, KNEC will dispatch questionnaires that require learners to state their interests and personalities. This will be helpful in identifying learners' strengths.

The questionnaires will aid relevant officials in pinpointing learners with unique talents in fields like sciences, sports or arts to ensure they are placed in senior schools with the capacity to support their career choices effectively.

Moreover, three other important factors will be considered in placing learners in senior schools.

Under CBC, there is a focus on placing learners closest to their homes. This means learners will attend the nearby secondary school for their senior school education, just like it happens with junior school.

This criterion, therefore, means placing learners in senior schools will somehow be influenced by the availability of slots, equality and inclusivity.

Locations with many schools will have the upper hand because they will have more slots available.

In addition, learners will be placed in schools randomly guided by the career pathway without considering gender. This means the concept of boys' and girls' schools will cease immediately.

Another factor that will be considered is regional balance and geographic location. This will save learners the time, energy and resources needed to travel miles away from home to attend a particular school, as it has been the norm with the 8-4-4 curriculum.

The CBC curriculum involves 2 years of pre-primary school, 6 years of primary/elementary school, 3 years of junior school, 3 years of senior school and 4 years of university education.

The curriculum focuses on developing seven core pillars: Communication and collaboration, Critical thinking and problem-solving, Imagination and creativity, Citizenship, Learning to learn, Self-efficacy, and Digital literacy.

The core competencies that CBC focuses on are critical thinking, communication and collaboration, inclusion, learner-centred pedagogy, technology integration, values, parental engagement, community service learning and competency-based assessment.

Although the CBC curriculum's vision has not yet been appropriately implemented, it is promising. It is much better than the 8-4-4 curriculum, whereby students earned 100% of their scores from summative assessments in classes 8 and 4.

The national examination was the only organ that determined the learner's grade.

The case is different with the CBC curriculum, whereby at least 40% of a learner's grade is determined in school by assessments of the learner's teacher(s). In comparison, 60% will be chosen from the learner's performance on the national examination.

In the 8-4-4 curriculum, national examinations (class 8 and form 4) focused on the learner's ability to memorize large quantities of information in numerous subjects.

The vision of the CBC curriculum is not to memorize but rather to assess the learner's communication and collaboration, self-efficacy, critical thinking and problem-solving, creativity and imagination, citizenship, learning to learn and digital literacy.

Transitioning from the 8-4-4 system to the CBC curriculum reflects Kenya's commitment to improving the quality and relevance of education for every learner.

Although the two systems have strengths and weaknesses, the evolution of CBC underscores the importance of adaptability and innovation in meeting society's evolving needs.

Going forward, sustained investment in training teachers, developing infrastructure, and refining the curriculum will be of the utmost importance in ensuring the success of the CBC curriculum and equipping Kenyan learners with the competencies and skills required to thrive in this era of technology and innovation.