The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) recently revised the learning areas (subjects) to be taught in Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) in Kenya. The new changes saw the number of compulsory subjects reduced to 9, after Life Skills and Health Education were scrapped off.
Junior Secondary consists of grades 7, 8 and 9 and prepares learners to progress to one of the three career pathways in Senior Secondary school.
For this reason, KICD has provided Curriculum Designs, if utilized well, would meet the National Goals of Education as well as enabling learners to pursue their desired careers.1
See: The Kenya CBC Curriculum Simply Explained
In the new changes, grades 7 to 9, Junior School learners will now do nine (9) core subjects.
This comes after the Ministry of Education scrapped off optional subjects in Junior secondary. According to the Ministry of Education, foreign and indigenous languages will be taught as non-formal subjects and will not be examined.
Junior Secondary School Compulsory Subjects
Here are the CBC grade 7, 8 and 9 core subjects reviewed by KICD:
- English
- Kiswahili or Kenya Sign Language (KSL)
- Mathematics
- Religious Education (CRE, IRE, HRE)
- Social Studies
- Integrated Science
- Pre-Technical Studies
- Agriculture
- Creative Arts and Sports
JSS Lesson Allocation per Subject
The table shows the learning areas (subjects) and the number of lessons, per subject, allocated per week. Each lesson runs for 40 minutes.
| S/No. | Learning Areas | Lessons Per Week |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | English | 5 |
| 2. | Kiswahili / KSL | 4 |
| 3. | Mathematics | 5 |
| 4. | Religious Education | 4 |
| 5. | Social Studies | 4 |
| 6. | Integrated Science | 5 |
| 7. | Pre-Technical Studies | 4 |
| 8. | Agriculture | 4 |
| 9. | Creative Arts and Sports | 5 |
| Pastoral / Religious Instructional Programme | 1* | |
| Total | 40 + 1* |
See also:
IS NOT BAD.