The government is making plans to phase out primary boarding schools for young learners across the county.
The move – once streamlined and executed – will see boarding schools enroll only senior secondary students. Primary and junior secondary students will not board under the new Competence Based Curriculum (CBC) system.
Only senior secondary school students under the CBS – which will comprise form two, three and four classes will be allowed to board.
“This way, we will then ensure that parents continue to play a supportive role in terms of bringing up their children. Going forward, it is probable that we are going to be talking about Grade 1 – 9 being day school and for me it is desirable,” said Education Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Dr Sara Ruto.
Affordable education
According to Ruto, the proposal will ensure that learners access affordable education, and parents are not squeezed by huge boarding fees.
According to the CAS, all learners between grades 1 – 9 which comprise the current Standard One to Form 1 will attend day schools before joining boarding schools at Grade 10, which is the equivalent of the present day Form 2.
The CAS was accompanied by Public Service Public Secretary Prof Margaret Kobia in Nairobi.
The proposal, among other things, is to ensure that all learners access affordable education, which makes sense since tuition in day schools is free.
Sh22,500 per student
“… if it is boarding schools making learning expensive, then over the years what the ministry has been doing is to invest more in day schools to have the same quality so that any child who goes to any school will get the education they require,” said the CAS arguing that though Sh22,500 is paid per child in boarding schools as capitation by the government, many families still suffer o raise money.
Planning is in high gear to identify schools as the ministry seeks to identify schools that will run from Grade One to Grade 12, which ones will be junior secondary, and which ones will be primary schools.
“Our new CBC cohort will be going to Grade 5 in July then to Grade 6, which is like upper primary then after that they go to junior secondary. If we want a seamless transition, we have to ensure that each child is able to move and again they are still young,” she noted.