New CBC junior classroom at Umoja Secondary, Limuru, Kiambu County.

The Ministry of Education has been allocated KSH 4 million by Treasury, in the recent supplementary budget, to facilitate the construction of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) classes ahead of the 2023 transition, which will mark the end of the 8-4-4 system.

According to Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Prof. George Magoha, the KSH4 million is part of a total Sh.8 billion that President Uhuru Kenyatta, in October 2021, directed the National Treasury to avail to the Ministry for the construction of 10,000 classrooms in secondary schools across all counties in the country by 2023.

So far 700 new CBC Junior classrooms have been completed in secondary schools across the county, according to Magoha.

The expansion of classrooms is aimed at putting up the infrastructure required to handle the current grade 5 learners, who are expected to transition to Junior Highschool in 2023 in line with the new curriculum once they graduate from grade 6 in April next year.

According to the Kenya Institute of curriculum development, students transitioning to Junior secondary schools will be between the ages of 12 and 14.

Prof. Magoha, in a statement, assured the country that the government is on course to progressively expand the capacities of all secondary schools.

CBC emerged as a top priority funding area in the  KSH 126.3bilion supplementary budget, submitted in parliament earlier this week by Treasury CS Ukur Yattani.

The Competency-Based Curriculum was introduced in 2017 to replace the 8-4-4 system.  It consists of a 2-6-3-3-3 system that is divided as follows:

• 2 years in pre-primary education
• 6 years in primary education
• 3 years in junior secondary education
• 3 years in senior secondary education
• 3 years(minimum) in university education