Teachers across the country have raised serious concerns over the state of preparedness for the full rollout of the Competency-Based Curriculum to Grade 10 in January 2026, warning that problems first flagged when Junior Secondary School began in 2023 remain largely unaddressed.
The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers and the Kenya National Union of Teachers jointly told journalists in Nairobi on November 29, 2025, that only 38 percent of the required 28,000 Grade 10 teachers have undergone full retraining, most science laboratories in public secondary schools are incomplete or unequipped, and the Ministry of Education has yet to distribute textbooks for the new subjects.
KUPPET Secretary-General Akello Misori said the situation is worse than when Grade 7 started two years ago. “We raised the same red flags in 2022 and 2023—lack of laboratories, insufficient teachers, missing books—and we were told everything would be ready by Grade 9,” Misori said. “Now we are staring at Grade 10 and the problems have not been solved. This is not implementation; it is experimentation on our children.”
At St Mary’s Boys Secondary School in Nyeri County, science teacher Peter Mwangi showed journalists a half-finished laboratory started in 2023 that still lacks water, electricity and basic apparatus. “We were promised Sh15 million per school for laboratories under the infrastructure fund,” Mwangi said. “We received Sh4.2 million in instalments, bought bricks and cement, then the money stopped. How do we teach Physics, Chemistry and Biology practicals without gas burners, microscopes or even running water?”
In Kisumu County, the situation is similar. Headteacher Jane Achieng of Withur Secondary School said her institution is expected to receive 240 Grade 10 learners but has only one functioning science laboratory for the entire school of 1,200 students. “We applied for laboratory equipment in July 2024,” Achieng said. “We were told the tender is still at evaluation stage. Grade 10 starts in five weeks. Where will our children do experiments?”
The Ministry of Education had promised to construct 11,000 new classrooms and 7,000 laboratories nationwide for Junior Secondary by the end of 2025. Latest internal audits seen by journalists show only 4,200 classrooms and 2,800 laboratories have been completed, leaving a shortfall of over 60 percent.
Textbook distribution is equally behind schedule. The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development approved 42 new titles for Grade 10 in May 2025, but publishers say they have received purchase orders for only 42 percent of the required 3.8 million copies. A senior official at one publishing house, speaking on condition of anonymity, said payments from the ministry are three months in arrears. “Without payment guarantees, we cannot print at risk,” the official said. “Grade 10 learners may start the year sharing one book among six students, just like Grade 7 did.”
KNUT Secretary-General Collins Oyuu accused the ministry of misleading Parliament on preparedness. “In July 2025, the Cabinet Secretary told the National Assembly that 92 percent of teachers were trained,” Oyuu said. “Our survey of 8,400 schools shows only 38 percent of those handling Grade 10 subjects have completed the full 120-hour retraining. The rest attended two-day seminars that cannot replace proper capacity building.”
Parents are also anxious. Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association chairman Willy Kuria said many principals have written to the ministry requesting postponement of the Grade 10 rollout. “We are not against CBC,” Kuria clarified. “We are against rolling it out when schools are not ready. A child who misses practical lessons in Grade 10 will struggle in national examinations in 2027.”
Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok admitted delays but insisted the rollout will proceed on schedule. “We have disbursed Sh18.4 billion for infrastructure and Sh9.7 billion for textbooks this financial year,” Bitok said during a phone interview. “Some contractors have lagged, but we are fast-tracking completion. Training is ongoing in all 47 counties. No child will be left behind.”
However, teachers on the ground dispute the figures. In Makueni County, only 14 of the promised 42 laboratories have been completed. In Turkana South, teachers say they have not seen a single new classroom since 2023.
The Teachers Service Commission has posted 12,000 new teachers to secondary schools this year, but union officials say fewer than 3,000 are trained in CBC pedagogy. “Posting is not the same as preparedness,” Misori noted.
Education stakeholders are now calling for an independent audit before January 2026. The Kenya Parents Association has threatened nationwide demonstrations if textbooks and laboratories are not in place by December 20, 2025.
As schools close for the December holidays, the question on every educator’s mind remains the same one asked two years ago: will Grade 10 find the system ready, or will history repeat itself?
