Times are set to change for investors in the education sector in the wake of new registration rules to tame the mushrooming of schools.
The rules drawn by Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha seek to limit the distance between two primary and secondary schools—day and boarding—to at least 600 metres.
The guidelines are meant to align schools to the requirements of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
Nursery schools will equally be required to be within a two-kilometre radius of the primary schools they are attached to.
“There will be no boarding pre-primary institutions,” the new rules read.
No new public primary school will be allowed in densely populated areas where the nearest existing public primary school has yet to attain two streams or has less than 480 learners.
“To establish a new public secondary school in densely populated areas, the nearest existing public secondary school should have attained three streams with a minimum population of 540 learners,” the registration guidelines for basic education institutions read.
In low densely populated and ASAL areas, the nearest existing institution should have at least 60 learners for registration of a new school to be approved.
Special needs education institutions will be restricted to a maximum of 10 learners per class. They include students with physical, visual, and hearing impairments.
“However, for learners with severe disabilities, the maximum should be between one and five per class,” read the rules, which the ministry is already enforcing.
The government has further banned the registration of more than one public teacher training college in every county.
“For registration of public teacher training colleges, a county must not register more than two colleges,” the guidelines read.
The curriculum offered must have been vetted and approved by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development and registered by the Ministry of Education.
“Institutions offering online learning shall have their curricular approval by KICD while the online infrastructure shall be approved by the ICT Authority.”
In the new dispensation, schools will not be allowed to co-exist with residential and commercial establishments within their premises or grounds.
The government further says all satellite institutions under one management and ownership shall be registered independently.
“It is, therefore, required that all providers of basic education and training adhere to the provisions of these guidelines as far as the registration of basic education institutions is concerned,” the CS said.
Education Principal Secretary Julius Jwan said the new rules will facilitate the registration of institutions offering basic education, as well as ensure legal existence and recognition by the ministry.
Before approving new applications, the county education board would be required to check the suitability of a site for a school, the site plan approved by the Works department, and a valid title deed.
The board will also check that the school location is not within 300 metres from a liquor selling outlet – both for urban and rural areas.
A registration fee of Sh10,000 will be charged for one-year provisional registration of private educational institutions, the same amount being for five-year registration and re-registration.
A fee of Sh2,000 will be charged in respect of registering a public educational institution, with an option provided to convert a public school into a private school and vice versa.
“It is anticipated that institutions will have had changes in enrolment and infrastructure which may necessitate re-registration. Institutions shall, therefore, be assessed for certificate renewal every three months before the expiry of the five-year period,” the rules read.
The rules will apply to standalone pre-primary schools, primary and junior secondary, senior secondary, whole school – running from pre-primary to senior secondary, diploma colleges, adult education, institutions offering foreign curriculum, and mobile schools.
The rules have elicited varied reactions from among stakeholders, with some in support and others calling for further review of the same.
Kenya Private Schools Association chairperson Mutheu Kasanga said it makes sense to invest in existing schools rather than establish separate ones within a short distance.
“If a public school is nearby and has not reached that critical mark, and a second one opens up, then it means it is just the same parents who are going to move from one school to another.”
She, however, protested what she termed “a different cut out for private and for the public”, saying, “If we are running one education system we should have one standard that is attainable.”
Kasanga said public schools are not under the kind of scrutiny that their private counterparts are treated to in compliance checks.
“For private schools, you have to fulfil all these things yet for the public you are allowed to open without. Let us have one standard so that the goals are achievable,” she said.
Kepsha national chairman Johnson Nzioka said the provision for schools to have 480 learners so that another can be registered nearby would be a challenge.
“So if you are saying a school with 200 learners cannot stand on its own, then it means you will expose the children to a very long distance from another school.”
“I think that idea should be reconsidered with a view of talking about zones. If it is in Nairobi, a school with 400 children might need to be merged with another one that’s even a kilometre away.”
In the new rules, only a maximum of 25 learners will be allowed in an ECDE classroom, with caps for primary schools set at a maximum of 45 learners per classroom.
Classrooms will be required to be disability-friendly, fitted with wide doors, and with a ramp or elevator on all buildings exceeding one storey.
In regard to CBC, primary schools will have to be fitted with science and technology rooms, art and craft rooms, a library with a capacity of 45 learners and a computer lab.
Primary schools will also be required to instal a home science room, language room, music room, agriculture workshop, and agriculture demonstration plots for groups of 15 learners.
Junior secondary schools will be required to have science labs, an art room, a library for 45 learners, a computer lab, a language room, a music room, an agriculture workshop and demonstration plots.
Schools will be required to provide playgrounds for soccer, rugby, netball, handball, hockey, volleyball and basketball.
Fields would also be required for racket games – lawn tennis, badminton, table tennis – as well as a 400m athletics track.
The ministry has sought to provide that pre-primary schools in urban areas be built on land measuring at least an eighth of an acre, half an acre for those up to Grade 3, an acre for primary and junior secondary schools, and three acres for putting up a whole school.
In rural areas, primary and junior primary schools will require at least four acres, five acres for secondary schools and 15 acres for TTIs.
“Institutions without adequate grounds shall lease a playground within a radius of 200 meters from the school,” the rules read.
Edited by A.N
