Former Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary-General Wilson Sossion has hailed the country’s transition to Grade 10 as largely successful, stressing that education must remain free and compulsory for all children.
Speaking during a Tuesday interview with Radio Generation, Sossion said the government has made strides in expanding access to schools, particularly through the growth of day secondary schools. However, he warned that some institutions are being avoided by learners due to poor infrastructure, shortage of teachers, and lack of adequate learning facilities.
“The key principle was to have universal education, compulsory and free, free and compulsory education,” Sossion said, highlighting that achieving 100% enrollment in Grade 10 is part of the government’s responsibility to ensure every child receives education.
He emphasized that learning opportunities should not be reserved for children who can afford them or perform well academically. “We cannot talk about the future human resource if we don’t educate everyone. It is not educating those who can proceed, but is educating everyone who must progress,” he said.
Sossion recalled that the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), developed by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), was introduced to replace the 8-4-4 system, which was criticized for focusing on memorization and exams rather than practical skills and creativity. CBC aims to develop critical thinking, problem-solving, digital literacy, and communication skills, preparing learners for employment, entrepreneurship, and lifelong learning.
Launched in 2017 and implemented in 2018 with Grade 1, CBC follows a 2-6-3-3-3 structure: two years of pre-primary, six years of primary, three years of junior secondary, three years of senior secondary, and three years of university education.
Sossion credited the government directive allowing students to report to school without uniforms or fees for removing barriers that previously limited access to education. “The government has been very firm, all students to report to school, whether they have uniforms or not,” he said, noting that local administrators and chiefs played a key role in ensuring compliance.
He said the expansion of day secondary schools has made access to education easier, with about 74% of learners now attending as day scholars. “Senior schools are now dotted all over the country. It is no longer a problem to access a senior school,” he said, contrasting the present with earlier times when students often carried their luggage for long distances to reach boarding schools.
Sossion said promoting quality day schools was a deliberate policy to reduce the cost of education and make it more accessible. “We spearheaded and campaigned for quality day schools as the only way of overcoming barriers of cost to education,” he said.
Despite these gains, he acknowledged that some schools continue to experience low enrollment as students choose other institutions. “You cannot force a child to join a school, even if they are admitted and they choose not to,” Sossion said, urging education authorities to investigate the reasons behind low student intake, which often points to poor infrastructure, lack of teachers, and insufficient learning facilities.
“Why are our communities avoiding to supply children to certain schools? It is a question of quality and quality delivery of education in such schools must be addressed,” he said. He added that schools must have laboratories, classrooms, books, and technical equipment, as well as facilities for sports, music, technical subjects, and home science. “Even music needs a lot, a foreign language room needs a lot, home science needs a lot,” he said.
Despite these challenges, Sossion maintained that the transition to Grade 10 has been generally smooth. “Generally, the transition to Grade 10 has been done very well, and this could have been the biggest quagmire that we could have had,” he said.
He called for ongoing dialogue and consultation in shaping education policies, saying reforms should be guided by professional advice and stakeholder engagement. “Education basically is dialogue. If we encourage continuous dialogue and continuous consultations, we will always arrive at the most professional decisions,” he said.