Private schools have received praise from the Cabinet Secretary for Education Prof George Magoha for their efforts in building classrooms that will help the new Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
CS Magoha revealed that private schools have built 1,200 classrooms while he went through Mudasa Academy and Golden Elites Kisumu schools where he inspected the newly constructed classrooms.
The CS emphasized the importance of private schools in helping in the implementation of the CBC and implored more private schools to invest more in infrastructure.
CS Magoha also revealed that the Kenya Private Schools Association national chairman Charles Ochome, private schools plan to build around 5,000 more classrooms by the month of July out of a total of 10,000 by the end of this year.
In one of the schools that Magoha visited, Golden Elites schools have built an ultramodern four-storey junior secondary school with eight classrooms.
On his part, Ochome who is also the director of the Golden Elites schools revealed that plans have been set in place to build two more buildings at the school. The school is located around two kilometres from the Kisumu International Airport.
At Mudasa, the construction of ultramodern classrooms is currently going on.
Director George Mudanyi revealed that the company is prepared to implement the CBC.
According to Mudanyi, Mudasa Academy is building four-storey classrooms that will house 30 classrooms, four laboratories, a library, a hall and an indoor games facility.
Magoha said that more children who prefer to join private schools will now be able to attend private schools having junior secondary education.
“Instead of pressuring us at the top schools, we would want the private sector to develop stand-alone junior high just like the one at Golden Elites and Mudasa Academy,” said CS Magoha.
The government, through Prof. George Magoha, has promised to deliver around 10,000 Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) classrooms by August 2022.
Magoha, speaking in Kisumu at the Golden Elites School said that he was assessing classroom readiness to implement junior secondary school level. He also revealed that all classes are almost finished.
“We have done around 6,497 in the first phase and the second phase, we will compete for about 3,500 classrooms,” he said.
Magoha said that the Grade 6 examinations are complete and more information on how students will transition will be provided.
Magoha urged politicians to stay away from the CBC because the new curriculum is there to stay.