More anxiety over junior secondary as Kuppet changes tune
Education
By
Lewis Nyaundi
| Nov 19, 2025
Uncertainty over who should lead junior secondary schools (JSS) is growing after a teachers' union abruptly shifted its stance, abandoning calls to detach the section from primary school institutions.
But the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) now wants graduates posted to JSS in the last two years be transferred to senior secondary schools to address staffing gaps.
“Ensure that they upgrade the skills of those primary school teachers who have already trained as P1s, give them a one-year training, and then let them run their affairs of primary school, and let them run the junior school from Grades 7 to 9,” said Kuppet Secretary General Akelo Misori.
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The change in tune comes amid major confusion on the place of JSS after the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) last week announced plans are underway to revamp management of comprehensive schools, which incorporate both primary and junior schools.
The TSC plan, which aligns with the proposal of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms report, will see the primary and junior schools managed under one school head but supported by two deputies, one for each level.
Antonina Lentoijoni, TSC director of staffing, while attending the Kenya Primary School Heads Association annual general meeting said the commission was working to anchor the junior school management in law before official rollout.
Despite the release of the report three years ago, no implementation has been made to effect the administrative hierarchy, leading to anxiety.
Constitutional lawyer, Ken Echesa, argued that the current lack of a defined leadership in junior schools creates a major gap in structure.
He said JSS cannot exist on their own because they lack proper infrastructure, but transferring the institutions to senior secondary schools would complicate their administration.
"The proposal by the presidential working party has not been effected, but I think that it is easier to incorporate them (junior schools) in primary schools because that’s where they are currently, and they have the required infrastructure,” he said.
But Misori yesterday faulted the TSC plan, stating that the employer has thrown the sub-sector into confusion as the secondary school graduate teachers in junior school are limited to the scope of what they can teach.
Unlike teachers in primary schools who can teach all subjects, secondary school graduates specialise in only two learning areas but have been forced to teach all subjects at JSS.
“What TSC is doing now is basically a trial-and-error method of handling teachers at that level. Primary School teachers can handle the junior schools. In fact, teachers in primary schools have been teaching up to Class 8. The only class that is added is Grade 9, so that is not a very big deal,” said Misori.
Previously, the union has been pushing for the independence of JSS away from the primary schools, which host them. Various lobby groups representing JSS teachers have been pushing for a similar proposal.
Kenya National Union of Teachers Secretary General, Collins Oyuu, said any headship decision must follow the laid-down structure of promotions as prescribed by TSC.
“If we have a senior teacher in the comprehensive school, he should be considered for promotion to lead either level of the school. The idea that junior school should be led by recent graduates while a long career serving teacher with a proven level of leadership is bypassed is outrageous,” he said.