The KEPSA Education Sector Board leaders, led by the Chairman Dr Vincent Gaitho participated in the 18^th Annual Delegates Conference of the Kenya Primary School Head-teachers Association (KEPSHA) that was held in Mombasa between the 3^rd and 10^th of December 2022. The theme of the event was 'Managing the Transition of Competency-Based Curriculum for the Effective Nurturing of each learner's Potential'.

The conference was attended by over 10,000 representatives of headteachers from the forty-seven counties, officers from the Ministry of Education, Teachers Service Commission among other partners. The Vice Chairs of the KEPSA Education Sector Board Ms Wairimu Njage (Basic Education) and Ms Priscilla Kerebi (TVET) were also present. Other sector members at the conference included Ms Mutheu Kasanga - immediate past Chair of the sector board, Ms Jane Mwangi – Kenya Association of International Schools and Ms Mary Olubayi - Director of St Nicholas Schools and Colleges.

The sector board leaders were present on 6^th December 2022 when the issues concerning a policy on banning boarding schools, which had been reported widely by major media outlets, were addressed. It was established that despite the alarming headline, the facts about the status of boarding schools are much more benign. Some key facts in the public domain touching on boarding schools and transition management of competency-based curriculum system are as follows:

•  The Interim Report of the Presidential Working on Education Reforms directed that Junior Secondary Schools - (JSS) (Year 7 – 9) will be hosted in existing primary schools. This is one of the recommendations that KEPSA, through the Education Sector Board, made in the comprehensive Private Sector Submission to the Presidential Working Party.
•  The Ministry of Education was then directed to issue guidelines on the same. The sector had also recommended that JSS be hosted in day secondary schools and in established standalone junior secondary schools that private investors have put up.
•  On 6^th December 2022, the Principal Secretary for Basic Education, Dr Belio Kipsang, officially launched the conference.  He highlighted that children in Junior Secondary Schools would receive their education in day schools. He stated that this was a good move because children would be with their parents, as they should be. He further elaborated that the government will not convert the primary schools hosting JSS into boarding schools. Apparently, the media interpreted this to be a ban on boarding schools.
•  96% of public primary schools are day schools. 4% are primary boarding schools in Arid and Semi-Arid Areas (ASAL areas), and 1% are intervention boarding schools for vulnerable situations, especially girls in danger of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), early marriage, etc. There are also several private primary boarding schools in the country. The government will not ban existing primary boarding schools.

The government, through the Ministry of Education, has reiterated that it will continue to support public boarding schools, especially in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) areas and the interventional ones already in existence, and will even build more on a need-basis. The private sector can also continue to develop primary boarding schools for parents who choose that option. The government is also encouraging increased investment in schools and education infrastructure, as confirmed during the Ministerial Stakeholders Forum held early in the month with the newly appointed Cabinet Secretary for Education.