Over 30,000 CBE teachers to undergo retooling

By Newsflash Reporter

More than 30,000 secondary school, Special Needs Education (SNE) and vocational training teachers will undergo mandatory refresher training in December as the Ministry of Education races to prepare for the transition of 1.1 million Grade 9 learners to Grade 10 in January 2026.

The training, slated for December 1 to December 19, 2025, will target educators from 9,626 secondary, special needs and vocational institutions. It will cover all 55 learning areas and the three specialised pathways under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) Senior School model.

Retooling for Senior School

“TSC has planned the retooling of senior school teachers in Competency-Based Education (CBE) from December 1 to December 19, 2025. The retooling will be conducted face-to-face in selected or procured county venues,” said Dr Reuben Nthamburi, Director for Teacher Professional Management, in a circular. Under the Senior School framework, learners must take seven subjects—four compulsory—based on recommendations from the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms (PWPER).

The compulsory subjects are English, Kiswahili, Core Mathematics or Essential Mathematics, and Community Service Learning (CSL).

Optional areas include Music and Dance, Theatre and Film, Business Studies, Geography, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, General Science, Agriculture, Computer Studies, Home Science, Aviation, Building Construction, Electricity, Metalwork, Power Mechanics, Woodwork, Media Technology, and Marine and Fisheries Technology. The training will prepare teachers to deliver the specialised pathways selected by the incoming cohort.

Educators will be trained in pathways such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Social Sciences, and Arts and Sports Science, in alignment with the Senior School design under CBE. The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will lead the training using a smart cascade model in designated venues across counties. Experts from KICD, KNEC, CEMASTEA, Ministry of Education, KISE, and teacher training colleges will support the process. The multi-agency team includes officials drawn from KICD, KNEC and CEMASTEA.

Final phase of CBE retooling

Sessions will be residential for teachers in ASAL areas and those specialising in SNE. “The target participants are teachers currently serving in secondary schools, regular, SNE and vocational institutions. They will be clustered according to pathway subjects, including Social Sciences, Arts and Sports, and STEM,” added the TSC official.

The residential format will apply to ASAL teachers and those handling SNE, clustered by specialisation such as Hearing Impairment and Visual Impairment. This final training phase targets the last 10 per cent of teachers yet to be retooled, adding to the 300,000 already trained. Teachers from private institutions have also been invited. TSC is working with 428 SNE and 370 vocational SNE centres for stage-based curriculum preparation.

“We have done extensive retooling to support CBE. Over 300,000 teachers have been trained, and the remaining 10 per cent will be covered in December,” said TSC Chairperson Jamleck Muturi during the Kepsha delegates conference in Mombasa. The training comes as the government races to address infrastructure and staffing challenges ahead of the 2026 transition. President William Ruto has directed the Ministry of Education to fast-track the construction of 1,600 laboratories, especially in remote schools, to ensure full transition readiness.

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“My instruction is to expand laboratories by 1,600, particularly in remote schools. Students should not encounter a laboratory for the first time during an exam,” Dr Ruto said on November 18, 2025. He also noted that universities will admit the first cohort of Competency-Based Education and Training (CBET) graduates in 2029. Stakeholders, including Kepsha and KHRC, have stressed the urgency of building laboratories to guarantee equity between rural and urban learners.

“Some rural schools lack laboratories, which are central to CBE. We want equity: every child, rural or urban, deserves equal education,” said KHRC’s Cornelius Oduor. The facilities are crucial as 1.1 million Grade 9 learners move to Senior School in January 2026. More than half of those who sat the Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA) selected the STEM pathway.

About 437,000 learners chose Social Sciences, while 124,000 opted for Arts and Sports. Placement to Senior School will depend on pathway preference, subject combinations and performance. The 9,603 public secondary schools have been categorised as C1 (national schools): offering all pathways, and C2 (extra county), C3 (county) and C4 (subcounty/day schools): offering fewer options depending on capacity and facilities.