Kisumu based Hekima School, Migosi will host Junior Secondary starting next year.
This follows its satisfactory preparation for the task after President William Ruto directed that Junior Secondary be hosted in primary schools.
Nyanza Regional Director of Education Nelson Sifuna noted that the school had invested enough in preparation for the new program which will host Grades Seven, Eight and Nine.
“Hekima School started from a very humble background, and now we are talking about a population of 600,” he said.
Graduation
Mr Sifuna spoke on Saturday when he presided over the graduation ceremony of Pre-Primary Two pupils at the institution.
At least 66 students graduated in the institution.
“All this is because of the commitment of the director. He has decided to invest in our children. We as a government, we do partner and encourage private investos to invest in education,” said Sifuna.
Hekima School Director Richard Membo Guya said the institution invested Sh15 million in putting up a new block to support the new program.
The investment went towards putting up and equipping a five-storey building set to host classrooms, laboratories, library, dormitories and teachers’ residence.
“We were in dilemma before the taskforce report was released as we were not sure if the team would recommend that Junior Secondary be hosted in primary or secondary schools,” said Membo.
He added: “We want to thank the President for his declaration to have the children be hosted in primary schools.”
According to Mr Membo, Hekima School has been retraining its teachers to meet the CBC standards, a situation which will see them top up a few teachers to handle the Junior Secondary.
“Some classrooms are complete and more construction is still in progress, more teachers will be employed to help us fully transition,” he said.
Meeting CBC standards
Sifuna said Hekima was one of the private schools which had met the requirements to host the Junior Secondary, and that the government will provide any necessary support to ensure similar efforts are achieved in more private schools.
“Private schools have ensured Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) is ongoing through their commitment in construction of classrooms and putting facilities in place,” he said.
He said public schools were also not left behind in the preparations, with some having put up classrooms.
“We already have one classroom in each school that will be utilized while government put measures on how it will cater for other facilities, ” said Sifuna.
Mr Membo said Hekima School management was working on making final arrangements to ensure smooth transition from Grade Six to Junior Secondary.
“We have enough facilities to host up to 300 learners in the Junior Secondary, and we are open to students transitioning from other institutions as well, not just those who are transitioning Hekima only,” Membo said.