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Magoha: My time at the Ministry is almost over


Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha is the first senior government official to confirm his time in office is drawing to a close.

While presiding over the release of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams on Monday, Magoga explained his ministry had drawn up a schedule to aid learners transit to the new curriculum in his absence.

He added that he may not be in the office by the time the schedule is fully implemented.

“As you are aware, we are already behind schedule and therefore the Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) will begin the registration of the 2021 candidates ahead of the March examinations. In December 2022, we will administer another examination. Hopefully, I will not be there, but we shall have planned for everything so that those who take over from us will have a seamless process,” he said.

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s ten-year term in office expires in August 2022, and as has been the norm, the new Head of State is expected to appoint new Cabinet Secretaries.

Some Cabinet Secretaries have also hinted at joining politics.

Magoha was appointed Education CS in March 2019 replacing Amina Mohamed and the jury is still out on his performances in what remains the most important sectors in the country.

And in a related development, Magoha also announced pupils and students will be allowed a one-week break when schools close on July 20 as the government bids to make up for lost time brought by the prolonged closure in 2020.

“We deliberately created a tight academic calendar that enables us to accelerate completion of school terms. The New Year entails the rollout of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) Grade 5. For the avoidance of doubt, we shall all roll out grade 5 together; whether you are in private or public schools. There is only one government,” he explained.

The first Grade 6 summative examination will be conducted next year, with President Kenyatta having sworn in a permanent secretary to ‘midwife’ the CBC changes.

Term One will begin on July 26, and learners will also have another one-week break from October 2 to October 10 before they open for the second term the following day. It will run until December 23.

Next year will also have four terms before schools revert to the normal calendar in January 2023.