Some parents in Garissa are colluding with teachers to have their children in Grade 7 registered for the KCPE exam to evade the CBC curriculum, some officials have claimed.

Learners in Grade 7 are the pioneer students of the Junior Secondary School system introduced by the 6-3-3-4 system of education.

The government last year directed that those who sat Grade 6 exams are enrolled in JSS in their primary schools as part of the transition.

The schools also have the last cohort of the 8-4-4 system who are due to sit their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exam at the end of the year. 

Such registration would mean the learners will skip junior secondary and instead revert to the old syllabus by joining the last cohort in Standard 8.

Garissa Township deputy county commissioner Solomon Chesut has warned both parents and teachers against such collusion.

Speaking at Garissa High School on Saturday during the unveiling of the beneficiaries of the Elimu scholarship programme by Equity bank, Chesut said the trend has seen local primary school teachers colliding with parents to move their children from Grade 6 to Standard 8 to evade the Competency-based curriculum

“All those students who did the Grade 6 assessment exams are supposed to be in junior secondary schools. We have noticed that there are parents who are colluding with teachers to admit some of these students to Std 8,” Chesut said.

“We are warning the teachers that you will lose your jobs. You can't register a student from Grade six to Std 8. We have a list of some notorious schools and we have forwarded their names to the investigative agencies for further action,” he warned.

Chesut warned that none will be spared over unlawful dealings that affect the lives of learners.

The remarks come a day after the regional coordinator for education Yussuf Karayu in a circular to county directors of education warned school heads against unauthorised registration of Grade 7 learners as KCPE candidates.

“This is to inform you that some unprofessional headteachers are receiving on transfer and registering Grade 7 learners as 2023 KCPE candidates without the consent of the Ministry of Education officers at the subcounty, county and regional levels,” the circular reads in part.

“Let it be known that such headteachers will be dealt with firmly and held personally accountable for registering illegitimate KCPE candidates. The ministry has issued all learners, including the Grade 7 pupils with unique personal identification numbers (UPI) and it will be very easy to trace such learners.”

Chesut encouraged the 1,843 beneficiaries of the Elimu scholarship programme in Garissa to use the opportunity to study and uplift the lives of their communities.

He further directed all chiefs and their assistants to ensure 100 per cent transitions of students from primary to secondary schools.

Garissa Township MP Dekow Mohamed asked residents to encourage the children to take up teaching courses to bridge the teacher shortage in the region.

He also encouraged parents to take their children to public schools to easily secure educational sponsorship or through bursary.

“We have parents who take their children to private schools but again come to ask for bursaries or apply for sponsorship. What they forget is that these funds are meant for the most vulnerable and poor in society," Dekow said.

"If you want your children to be considered take them to a public school because when they join a private school it is assumed you are well off and you can manage to pay the school fees."

Garissa Equity Bank branch manager Shadrack Muithya urged for the creation of a working system to oversee the issuance of scholarships and bursaries.

“We need an information system with all students receiving bursaries or scholarships so that we don’t give a student a double scholarship when there are others who can benefit,” Muithya said.