Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has explained why junior schools continue to operate under the management of primary schools instead of being treated as fully independent institutions, even though they maintain separate financial accounts and governance arrangements.
Appearing before the Senate on Wednesday, Ogamba said the current structure follows recommendations made by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms.
He said the reform team advised that junior schools remain within primary schools to protect younger learners and ensure available facilities are used efficiently.
The issue arose after a question by Senator Enoch Wambua on behalf of Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, who was absent during the sitting. Ogamba told senators that the reform team considered the age of learners when deciding how junior schools should be structured.
According to the CS, learners transitioning from Grade 6 to Grade 7 are still young and could struggle to adjust if they were placed in secondary school environments alongside older students. For that reason, the team recommended that junior school education remain within primary school settings.
Cost was another key factor behind the decision. Ogamba said classrooms currently used by Classes 7 and 8 would likely remain unused once the pioneer group of learners under the Competency-Based Education system moves to senior school if junior schools were separated from primary schools.
The reform team also found that secondary schools do not have enough capacity to host all junior school learners. Kenya has about 10,000 secondary schools compared to more than 32,000 primary schools, making it difficult for the existing institutions to absorb all learners if junior schools were moved entirely to secondary schools.
“Thus it was considered most cost-effective that constructing new classrooms would not be a prudent way of spending government money,” Ogamba said.
He added that the government therefore chose to maximise the use of classrooms and other facilities already available in primary schools rather than invest heavily in building new secondary school structures.
Under the current arrangement, the main additional spending has gone into developing specialised facilities needed for junior school learning, including laboratories.
Ogamba also said the arrangement helps make the transition from Grade 6 to Grade 7 smoother and supports the government’s goal of achieving 100 per cent transition in basic education.
He added that keeping junior school learners in primary school environments also reduces the need for students to travel long distances to access junior school education.
The Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms had proposed the establishment of comprehensive primary schools that would accommodate learners up to Grade 9. This recommendation informed guidelines issued in January 2023 that guide the implementation of junior secondary education across the country.
The guidelines outline how junior schools should be managed in terms of administration, infrastructure development and curriculum delivery.
“In line with the policy position and the guidelines in place, primary and junior schools have one head of institution and one board of management that oversee the governance and management of the school.”
Ogamba also clarified that the existence of separate financial accounts for primary and junior school levels does not mean the two are independent institutions.
He said the separation of accounts is necessary because the two levels receive different capitation funding from the government.
Primary school learners receive Sh1,420 per learner per year, while junior school learners receive Sh15,042 annually.
“Thus for purposes of financial planning, accountability and audit, the accounts for junior school and primary school are kept separate,” he explained.
Debate around the management of junior schools has grown in recent months, with teachers stationed in these institutions pushing for greater administrative independence.
Some teachers say the current structure has led to poor implementation of the Competency-Based Education curriculum and slowed their career growth. Others have also reported discrimination, intimidation and heavy workloads under primary school management.
Parliament is currently considering amendments to the Basic Education Act that could grant junior schools greater autonomy and establish a more specialised learning environment for learners in Grades 7, 8 and 9.
Ogamba said teachers deployed to junior schools are fully trained to handle the curriculum at that level. He explained that the content taught in junior school is at secondary school level and is delivered by graduate teachers trained for secondary education.
"To this end therefore, all teachers teaching in junior school hold the training skills and competencies and qualifications for secondary school level curriculum delivery.”
He said additional support is provided by the Teachers Service Commission and the Ministry of Education to field officers. Programmes for teacher induction, mentorship and coaching have also been introduced across public basic education institutions to strengthen professional practice.
Ogamba further said the Career Progression Guidelines developed in 2016 by the Teachers Service Commission in consultation with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission informed the 2017–2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement signed with teachers’ unions after the job evaluation process.
The guidelines were later reviewed in 2018 and expanded to cover teachers in basic education, lecturers and special needs educators.
They outline the minimum requirements for entry into teacher training, as well as rules governing appointments and promotions at different levels in the teaching service.
“To underscore this position, the appointment letters issued to teachers stationed in junior schools clearly state their grades and designations as secondary school teacher 2 as per career progression guidelines 2018.”
Ogamba said teachers working in junior schools are promoted under the same guidelines, dismissing calls to change their designation based on their place of work.
“Junior school teachers, regardless of their place of work, are secondary school teachers by training, qualifications, skills and competencies and are treated as such for their career progression.”