1 week Ago By Idara
Busia Thursday April 10, 2025 KNA by Salome Alwanda The Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in Africa (CEMASTEA) has trained School principals in Busia County on Competence-Based Education and transition as they prepare for grade 10 learners next year. The three days training that brought together 173 principals in the county at Nambale Boys High School aimed at equipping them with the knowledge about the curriculum and preparing them for the implementation of the curriculum. The coordinator of the STEM program at CEMASTEA Makoba Kizito, said principals were informed of the pathways which he said will be used to place learners in the field of their interest.
“We have Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Sports and Arts pathway and Social Sciences pathway, with each having various tracks. We have taken them through the various subjects under each track and pathway. The STEM pathway will be compulsory to all schools and they will have to choose another pathway to be offered in their schools depending on the ability of the school.
” Kizito added that the training was based on the survey that showed the concerns of the principals being on transition, adding that there was a need to train them. “The survey was done involving 1,300 principals and the training was tailored along the needs that were identified. Their concerns were on understanding the pathways and the school’s expected preparations for the transition.
“ He said there is the need to sensitize parents on the transition of the learners to grade 10 due to their role in the process. “Parents are very central persons in transitioning. They will play a vital role when it comes to making choices of the pathways.
There will be a lot of mentorship and guidance involved for learners to be able to make an objective choice” he said. Busia County Director of Education James Ekaliyo said the training is important for it creates awareness to them on what the CBC pathways are in the senior school. They also need to understand the guidelines of placement of learners in junior schools.
We are going to roll down the trainings to the head of departments in senior schools to the teachers and all other stakeholders in the senior schools” he said Ekaliyo stated that schools in the county are well prepared over the issue of infrastructure challenges. He added that the government has been making interventions to ensure the needs of the learners have been met. “When these learners were transiting to grade 9, we had text books on time and even the addition of the teachers.
In terms of infrastructures, as the county we had a total of 418 that were constructed to provide learning space for grade 9 learners”. He said He further said that 4 principals from private schools have been trained to ensure that they are at the same level with their counterparts in terms of guidelines of admission to grade 10 and the pathways. Busia County Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (KESSHA) chairman David Maase said the training has equipped them with the information that is necessary for them to receive grade 10 learners.
“All the concerns that we had have been addressed accordingly and we are ready for the learners. This training should be a continuous process so that we will be able to improve our skills on how we will handle these learners going forward” he said. The Principal for Nambale High school, Tom Amadi lauded the CBC curriculum stating that it will offer solutions to the unemployment situation in the country due to the skills it offers to the learners.
“The CBC is the best system because it concentrates on formative assessment as opposed to summative assessment which has a lot of irregularities in examination. We believe CBC will eliminate all these forms on unethical practices and improve the skills of students in preparation of job markets” Benard Okema, principal of Machakus Secondary School on his part said the secondary schools ‘sector has enough infrastructures for grade 10 learners. He urged stakeholders to support the curriculum for the realization of its benefits.
“We have been informed on how we can be innovative and use locally available materials that are within our vicinity instead of expensive resources. The creativity level will be high through this system as it is training learners to be self-reliant.”.
