List Of Compulsory and Optional Subjects In Junior Secondary School

The Ministry of Education released the list of subjects for junior secondary schools in Kenya. The Junior Secondary Schools will be offering 23 subjects to the first inaugural Grade Seven Class. Students would pick 14 subjects with Mathematics and English made compulsory.

According to the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development curriculum design for Grade 7, the learners will take 45 lessons a week with each lesson covering a 40 minutes duration.

Junior secondary has students in grades seven, eight, and nine. Students in regular junior secondary schools will be taught English, Mathematics, Pre-technical studies, Kiswahili, Integrated Science, Social Studies, Business Studies, Agriculture, Religious Education, Health Education, Sports, Physical Education, and Life Skills Education.

Schools will have the option of teaching two more optional subjects. Sports and Physical Education and Health Education will be taught twice a week, while Mathematics and English will be taught five times a week.

Pre-technical studies, Kiswahili and Integrated Science will be taught four times a week while Social Studies, Business Studies, Agriculture, and Religious Education will be taught thrice weekly.

Life Skills will have one lesson each week, while the two optional subjects will be taught thrice a week. The optional subjects will include Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Home Science, Computer Science, and Foreign Languages (French, German, Mandarin, Arabic, Kenyan Sign Language, and Indigenous Language).

Learners living with disabilities, unlike their counterparts in regular schools, will be taught pre-vocational schools, Physical and Health Education, Communication and Social Skills, Daily Living Skills, Mathematical Activities, Music and Movement, Religious Education, Hygiene, Nutrition and Safety, Environmental Activities, and Social Studies.

The Ministry of Education, though Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang, said learners in the junior secondary will have a four-level performance criterion.

Mandatory Subjects

1. English
2. Kiswahili or Kenyan Sign Language
3. Mathematics
4. Integrated Science
5. Health Education
6. Pre-Technical and Pre-Career Education
7. Social Studies
8. Religious Education
9. Business Studies
10. Agriculture
11. Life Skills
12. Sports and Physical Education

Optional Subjects

1. Visual Arts
2. Performing Arts
3. Home Science
4. Computer Science
5. Foreign Languages (German, French, Mandarin, or Arabic)
6. Kenyan Sign Language
7. Indigenous Languages

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