Education PS admits Grade 9 classroom shortage, announces 30-day plan to ease congestion

The Ministry of Education has announced that classrooms for Grade 9 students will face congestion for the first 30 days of the new academic year, as the government works to address a shortage of learning spaces.

Speaking on Monday, Education Principal Secretary (PS) Belio Kipsang’ admitted that there are insufficient classrooms to accommodate the first Grade 9 cohort, adding that the Ministry will find ways to ensure learning is not disrupted.

“There will be congestion in some classrooms for 30 days as we work on constructing more. In situations where congestion becomes unmanageable, we may implement multi-shifts. For example, when one class is engaged in outdoor activities, another group can make use of the classroom,” Kipsang’ said.

To address the classroom shortage, Kipsang said the Ministry plans to allocate Sh16 billion to complete the construction of new classrooms.

So far, 13,500 classrooms have been completed out of the required 16,000. The Ministry is constructing 11,000 classrooms, with the remaining ones funded through the NG-County Development Fund (CDF). Kipsang’ confirmed that the Ministry has completed 10,500 classrooms, while 3,000 have been built through the NG-CDF.

Books distribution

In addition, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba said 9.9 million books have been distributed to primary schools hosting Grade 9 students.

He announced that the Teacher Service Commission (TSC) has also posted 46,000 teachers who were on internship, as well as an additional 20,000 teachers.

However, he highlighted that the number of teachers remains insufficient and further recruitment is needed to ensure the teacher-student ratio is balanced.

The challenges come as the country continues its efforts to roll out the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) at the Junior Secondary School (JSS) level. Despite progress, CBC has faced criticism over issues such as poor funding, lack of preparedness, and frequent changes to subject clusters.

Concerns continue to grow that the government is not fully prepared for the 2025 intake of Grade 9 students, with fears over the adequacy of facilities and teaching staff.

On Monday, schools across the country recorded a low turnout, with many students absent compared to usual opening days.

Parents have decried fee increments, lack of Grade 9 books, high transport charges, and the high cost of living as some of the challenges they are grappling with as schools reopen.