The curse of the pioneer CBE class: A journey marked by uncertainty

Grade 10 learners during admission at Kisumu Boys High School, on January 12, 2025. [Michael Mute, Standard]

As Grade 10 learners walk into senior school this week, they carry with them both high hope and heavy baggage.

For Kenya’s pioneer Competency-Based Education (CBE) class, this transition marks the culmination of more than six years of disruption, experimentation and unresolved challenges that now threaten to shape and possibly limit their future.

From their early years in primary school, learning for this cohort was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which shut schools for months, forced a rushed adoption of remote learning, and deepened inequalities between learners in private and public institutions.

While some children continued learning online, millions in public schools fell behind, creating learning gaps that were never fully addressed.

When schools eventually reopened, these learners became the first group to experience CBE in its most practical form: a system designed to nurture talent, respect diversity and offer every child a fair chance.

Instead, many encountered confusion, inadequate resources and teachers struggling to adapt.

From Grade 7 to Grade 9, uncertainty hung heavily over school readiness, teacher preparedness and the availability of facilities, particularly in public junior secondary schools (JSS).

Now, as they transition to senior school, the promise of CBE faces its sternest test yet.

Across the country, learners and parents are grappling with unclear pathways, limited school choices and institutions struggling to offer the subjects, infrastructure and guidance outlined in policy documents.

The three pathways: science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); social sciences; and arts and sports, exist clearly on paper, but on the ground many schools lack the capacity to implement them.

At Pangani Girls in Nairobi, Mary Akinyi, a parent admitting her daughter, described a mix of relief and anxiety.

“For more than six years, this cohort of learners has carried the weight of the education system transition in this country,” she said.

“They navigated the challenges of being pioneer learners under CBE, and now they are stepping into senior school with more questions than answers.”

Another parent, Christine Mueni, who admitted her son to St Mary’s Yala, was worried by the overwhelming number of students.

“It is Day One, but the number of students is swelling every hour. This makes us wonder if the students will get the right attention and facilities available to cater for all,” she said.

In Murang’a County, James Maina, whose daughter has been admitted to Nginda Girls, shared similar fears.

“Is this school ready? Is my child in the right pathway? Will there be teachers, labs and workshops?” he asked, echoing concerns quietly shared by thousands of parents nationwide.

Their worries reflect a deeper reality: the shift to senior school has exposed structural cracks that long predate CBE but have been magnified by its rollout.

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has sought to reassure parents and learners that the government is prepared.

He has maintained that placement into senior school was guided by equity, learner choice and available capacity, and that schools were given clear guidelines on implementing the three pathways.

“We are committed to ensuring that every learner is placed fairly and that schools are supported to offer the required pathways. We may encounter a few teething problems, but I can assure you that every learner’s concerns will be addressed,” said Ogamba.

Yet across counties, school heads admit that readiness varies sharply. Well-established national and extra-county schools generally have science laboratories, workshops, libraries and experienced teachers, allowing them to offer all three pathways.

But many county and sub-county schools, where the majority of learners have been placed, are still struggling.

Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (KESSHA) chairman Willie Kuria said principals in these schools are anxious.

“Cluster One schools have what it takes to offer all the pathways. However, principals in county and sub-county schools are wondering what to do as students report this week,” said Kuria.

Education experts warn that these disparities are not new. Usawa Agenda Director Emmanuel Manyasa paints a stark picture of a system that has remained unequal for decades.

“Over 3,000 schools were not selected by any learner during the choice process. Now they have been allocated learners who did not choose them,” said Dr Manyasa.

“Parents are struggling because they know some of these schools are just growth centres. Children grow there, but they do not learn.”

The recently released 2025 KCSE results, which showed some schools producing straight As while others recorded Es, have only intensified anxiety.

Cluster One schools educate about three per cent of Kenyan learners yet they enjoy long histories, wealthy alumni, strong parental support, stable boards and the highest concentration of experienced Teachers Service Commission (TSC) teachers.

Sub-county schools, classified as Cluster Four, educate about 64 per cent of learners but have the least experienced principals, limited facilities and heavy reliance on poorly paid Board of Management (BoM) teachers.

“How do we claim we are giving every child an equal chance when three per cent have opportunities and the rest can only dream?” asked Dr Manyasa.

Teacher preparedness remains another major fault line.

Although TSC chief executive officer Eveleen Mitei has said the commission has stepped up recruitment, retooling and deployment, gaps persist.

“We have recruited thousands of teachers, continued retooling under CBE, and ensured teachers are prepared to receive learners at senior school,” Mitei said, stressing that teacher development is a continuous process.

Education analyst Majani Baridi argues that late recruitment and reliance on interns at junior secondary undermined learning foundations.

“A learner who never had a proper STEM teacher or a laboratory in Grade 7 and 8 is suddenly expected to qualify for the STEM pathway in Grade 9. That is setting them up for failure,” Baridi said.

Indeed, many public JSSs lacked integrated science and STEM teachers for years, only receiving them recently.

The government’s ambition to channel 60 per cent of learners into STEM has therefore raised concern. While aligned with industrialisation goals, critics warn it risks becoming a numbers exercise detached from reality.

“What a child can do depends purely on what a school can offer. If a school cannot support STEM, why force a child into it?” said Martha Omollo, a teacher in Nairobi.

She warned of broader social consequences if schools continue to act as sorting grounds that separate “thrivers” from “survivors” early in life.