Education reforms criticised as petition challenges Ruto's plan

President William Ruto signs a Bill into law at State House, Nairobi. [PCS] President William Ruto's bid to reform the Competency-Based Education (CBE) has been put to test, with a case filed to stop the implementation of the recommendations of a 42-member team he appointed to scrutinise the education system. Lawyer Jason Mungania in his case filed before High Court judge Bahati Mwamuye claimed that the recommendations by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms are a recipe of more chaos than good. He argued that the government put the cart before the horse by failing to anchor the changes on the law by either amending the already existing one or coming up with a new education law. "It is only just, fair and in public interest that this honourable court issues conservatory orders against the first respondent from carrying out the implementation of the comprehensive school system pending the hearing and determination of this application and petition," argued Mungania. In the case, he sued the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), Attorney General, and Education Cabinet Secretary, saying that to date, there is no amendment to the Basic Education Act to ensure a smooth transition. According to him, TSC is now placing junior secondary school teachers to primary schools under head teachers despite them being trained to teach in high school and that their bosses having a lesser academic qualification. He said that children have a right to quality education in all levels of education, hence, they require to have proper teachers in the right grades. President Ruto appointed a 42 member team led Prof Raphael Munavu. The party's raft recommendations included making the subjects' burden on learners lighter. The team proposed that the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development review the learning areas. This means that at the pre-primary (PP1 and PP2), the learning areas will not exceed five. At the lower primary (Grades 1 to 3), the learning areas will not exceed seven, whereas, in the upper primary (Grades 4 to 6), there will be no more than eight areas of study. The team also suggested that subjects in junior secondaryschool (Grades 7 to 9) should not exceed nine while learning areas in senior school (Grades 10 to 12) should not be more than seven. The proposal is a reprieve to parents, who complained of too much workload for their children under the CBE. The team also proposed a redefinition of basic education with an expanded lower primary to be known as a comprehensive school comprising a 2-6-6-3 system. And there shall also be the upper school, which will be called the senior school. The comprehensive school shall fall under one overall leadership, known as a principal. However, nursery, primary and junior schools will each have a head (deputy principal) who will work under the principal. Mungana wants the court to annul the recommendations and permanently bar TSC from implementing the same. All public nursery schools presently fall under the management of county governments. In the structure, Teachers Service Commission will hire and remunerate the tutors. The changes make primary schools the new academic powerhouse. The move expands the current primary schools in terms of population of learners, teachers, infrastructure and resources. The case will be mentioned on November 26, 2025.

Education reforms criticised as petition challenges Ruto's plan

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