Equity and readiness in Kenya s competency-based curriculum transition: Mixed-methods evidence from the pioneer grade 10 cohort

Kenya’s Competency-Based Curriculum promises learner-centred, competency-driven education that nurtures core competencies and aligns learning with individual talents and twenty-first-century demands. However, the 2026 transition of the pioneer cohort from junior secondary to senior secondary has exposed significant cultural, academic, and infrastructural challenges that threaten the curriculum’s equity and effectiveness goals. This mixed-methods study investigated transition challenges among the pioneer Grade 10 cohort. Students and principals from diverse school contexts provided data through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative analysis revealed high perceived difficulties in resource access, academic rigour and pathway specialization, cultural and governance shock, and career guidance and pathway selection. Inferential tests showed significant associations between school category and adaptation success, with infrastructure adequacy and teacher specialization as strong predictors of smoother transitions. Qualitative themes highlighted abrupt prefecture systems, rapid specialist-teacher pace, resource improvisation, and marginalization in schools co-serving legacy system learners. The study underscores that sustainable and equitable curriculum reform requires structural alignment—particularly infrastructure, specialist staffing, and guidance systems—to safeguard learning continuity and mitigate transition-related inequities across school categories and pathways.