The government has moved to merge and close low-enrolment Junior School units as it races to plug a deepening teacher shortage that threatens the rollout of Senior School under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) system.
The directive, announced by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the State Department for Early Learning and Basic Education and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), targets Junior School units with fewer than 30 learners across Grades 7 to 9. Teachers from the affected schools are set to be redeployed to understaffed Senior Schools nationwide.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba said the decision was driven by what he described as a national emergency in teacher availability. “This move addresses a severe national crisis,” Ogamba said, noting that Kenya currently faces a deficit of approximately 58,590 teachers specifically for Senior School, with the overall shortage across all public institutions nearing 100,000 teachers.
A crisis behind the policy shift
The teacher shortage has emerged as one of the biggest threats to the transition to Senior School, which begins in 2026. Parliamentary committees have warned that unless urgent corrective measures are taken, the deficit will worsen as Senior School enrolment grows, leading to overcrowded classrooms and weakened learning outcomes.
According to the Ministry of Education, the challenge is compounded by structural weaknesses at Junior School level. Public Junior Schools operate with a national average of just three teachers per school, while some institutions have only one teacher handling all grades.
Infrastructure gaps remain stark. Government and parliamentary reports indicate that nearly half of public Junior School learners lack access to functional science laboratories. At the same time, 35 percent of Junior Schools have no dedicated STEM teacher, and only 21 percent of teachers are trained in STEM subjects, undermining the foundation of the CBE curriculum.
Why Junior schools are being consolidated
The ministry argues that maintaining small, under-enrolled Junior School units—especially in remote areas—is no longer sustainable given limited staffing and budgetary constraints.
“The policy rationale centers on efficiency and urgent need,” the ministry said, explaining that consolidating learners into larger schools would improve resource utilisation while allowing teachers to be redeployed to Senior Schools where specialised skills are urgently required.
Parliament has also cautioned against the continued establishment of new schools without corresponding staffing plans, warning that such practices further strain an already overstretched system.
Concerns and risks
Despite the urgency, lawmakers and education stakeholders have raised concerns about the social and logistical impact of school mergers. Parliament has warned that closures could increase travel distances for learners in rural areas, potentially affecting attendance and access to education.
There are also long-standing disparities in teacher distribution between counties. Parliamentary reports have repeatedly flagged imbalances, while the TSC has cited inadequate funding as the main barrier to permanent teacher recruitment, despite budgetary allocations for intern teachers.
The transition is further complicated by reports of low initial enrolment in some Grade 10 streams, which has made planning for infrastructure and staffing more complex.
What comes next
The Teachers Service Commission now faces the task of identifying surplus Junior School teachers and matching their qualifications to Senior School subject needs, particularly in specialised CBE pathways.
As the Senior School rollout approaches, the Junior School merger policy underscores the scale of systemic reforms required to sustain the CBE transition. While the government frames the move as a necessary response to a national staffing crisis, its success will ultimately depend on careful implementation, adequate funding, and safeguards to ensure learners—especially in rural areas—are not left behind.
