Education Cabinet Secretary, Ezekiel Machogu has warned schools against charging extra levies on the pretext of expanding infrastructure to accommodate learners joining Grade 8 this year.
Speaking on Friday, January 12, 2024, Machogu instructed schools to ensure all 1.2 million learners who sat the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) are allowed to join Grade 7 in the Junior Secondary School (JSS) hosted by their respective primary schools where they attended Grades 1 - 6.
"Grade 7 learners should utilize the classrooms that were used by the current Grade 8 learners in 2023," the CS directed in a statement.
Further, the CS directed that the Grade 7 learners should attend school in uniforms that they used while in Grade Six last year as parents and guardians make efforts to buy new outfits for JSS.
He said that the Grade 8 class should use the classrooms left vacant by the last cohort of Standard Eight candidates who sat for the final Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam in 2023.
He directed schools to desist from asking parents to construct new classrooms for the current Grade 8 candidates saying the Government plans to spend Ksh12.8 billion to facilitate the construction of 15,015 classrooms for JSS over the next year.
"The Ministry wishes to inform all heads of institutions that the Ksh7.6 billion released last week for learners in JSS has been credited to school accounts. Schools are therefore not expected to charge any levies from parents," the CS directed.
Field officers from the Ministry are expected to be vigilant in the regions to ensure all joining instructions to JSS and Form One are strictly complied with.
