The Competency-Based Curriculum introduced Junior Secondary Schools as a three-year middle tier between upper primary and senior school. This level is meant to deepen subject specialisation and prepare learners for senior secondary school under the CBC framework.
JSS is currently anchored in primary schools where graduate JSS teachers work under primary school head teachers, many of whom do not hold university degrees. The arrangement is creating resentment between diploma-level primary school teachers and their heads on one side, and graduate JSS teachers on the other side.
A diploma-qualified head teacher supervising a cadre of university graduates in specialised subjects creates natural friction, misalignment in expectations, confusion in subject deployment and, worse, undermines teacher dignity.
The government should adopt a phased reform. At the very least, every comprehensive primary school should have a JSS head or deputy who is academically qualified to supervise graduate teachers and oversee subject specialisation.
In the long term, legislation should create clear leadership standards that require degrees, subject expertise and proven capacity to manage specialised learning. Existing non-graduate primary heads can be given opportunities to upgrade or transition, ensuring fairness and continuity.
Junior secondary is not simply an extension of primary. It is a bridge to senior school that demands careful subject alignment, clear instructional leadership and professional respect.
The current arrangement blurs roles and lowers morale. It creates the perception that specialists are being supervised by those with fewer academic credentials, leading to unnecessary hostility.
Quote of the Day: “How could you have a soccer team if all were goalkeepers? How would it be an orchestra if all were French horns?” —Anglican Archbishop of South Africa, 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner and anti-apartheid icon Desmond Tutu was born on October 7, 1931
