Senior Three learners, who fail the end-of-year promotional examinations conducted in the Third Term, will be required to go back to Senior One due to the new lower secondary curriculum.The current Senior Three and Four learners are still using the old curriculum which will be phased out next year while Senior One and Two learners are already using the new curriculum.

This means that Senior Three learners cannot repeat the class next year should they perform poorly, because they will catch up with Senior Two learners who are doing a different curriculum.The Monitor has learnt that some parents are stuck after schools threatened to send their poorly performing children back to Senior One to start afresh as per the curriculum.

Some schools have also allegedly been threatening to expel Senior Three students who perform poorly if they refuse to repeat Senior One.The head teacher of Seeta High School, Mr Allan Obbo, said the government has yet to address the matter.“We should not work under imagination. The government should come out and guide schools on what to do next,” Mr Obbo said.Some of the school administrators said they will invite the parents of the learners to discuss the available options.“Repeating for these learners will not be possible. These learners will be advised to change and go to schools that can promote them irrespective of their performance,” Sr Gladys Kachope, the head teacher of Immaculate Hearts Girls’ School, said.She added: “It is a challenging situation but I encourage learners to work hard and attain a pass mark of 60 percent. If they fail, their parents will decide what to do for the learners.”