We Are Ready for Grade 10, Says Garissa High School Principal

By Abdimalik Hajir - Reporter

13 January 2026 - As the transition to Senior School level under the Competency-Based Education starts this week, Garissa High School is expecting to receive at least 650 learners for Grade 10.

According to the Chief Principal Mohamud Mohamed Dubat, 60% of the students will be placed in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), 25% in Social Sciences while 15% in Art and Sports pathways.

Speaking to the press on Tuesday during the admission exercise, Mr Dubat said that the school is fully prepared for the learners and assured the parents that the students will receive the kind of education they need for their career pathways.

“I want to inform the public that Garissa High School is very much ready for the learners of Grade 10. The grade 10 students are more advanced because they know what they want to do. Someone wants to become a teacher, he knows that unlike before where students waited until form four to know the career they would pursue,” Mr Dubat said.

“As for preparations and readiness for the system, we are very much ready and we want to assure the parents that the students will get whatever that they require. I know it’s a very challenging time because most of the teachers have not been retooled for the grade 10 but we are planning bit by bit,” he added.

Unlike in the 8-4-4 system where the secondary schools consisted of form 1 - 4, now the senior schools will consist of Grade 10, Form 3 and Form 4 with form 3 and 4 set to be phased out in the next two years.

Mr Dubat says that this has reduced the student population from 1,600 to now around 1,200 students.

Djibouti Installs Electoral Commission Paving Way for April Presidential Vote

COB Sounds Alarm Over KSh 10 Billion Equalisation Fund Gap That Could Stall Development in Marginalised Areas

The Chief Principal noted that although there were gaps in terms of retooling of teachers and lack of some facilities, he was confident that in the course of the year, the government and development partners would support construction and equipping of some facilities.

A few parents we spoke to expressed their optimism that their children will do well as the pioneers of CBE and advance in their career pathways.

Habiba Mohamed, a trader at the Garissa’s Souq Mugdi market said that apart from CBC giving the learners the advantage of starting early in their pathways, it also gives everyone an opportunity including those who do not perform well.

“CBE is better than the old system because it gives the child an opportunity to decide on what they want to do at an early stage and work towards that. It also gives an opportunity to the students who for a reason don’t perform well to become something even if it is the skill-based courses,” Habiba said.