Curriculum Based Establishment and CBE Timetabling Guidelines Explained.
Before anything else, clear up the acronym. In Kenyan schools today, CBE means two different things, and the Ministry of Education guidelines at the centre of this article use both senses in a single title.
- Competency Based Education — the curriculum itself, the term that has largely replaced “CBC” in official usage.
- Curriculum Based Establishment — the number of teachers a school needs to deliver that curriculum.
The document properly titled Guidelines for Timetabling and Curriculum Based Establishment in Competency Based Education, issued by the State Department for Basic Education, covers both. Section A sets the lesson allocations, start times and break durations for every level from pre-primary to Grade 9. Section B sets out how a school’s teacher establishment is calculated and approved.
If you are a head of institution, the practical takeaway is this: your timetable must follow fixed national allocations, and your staffing entitlement is a calculated figure that must be approved through the Sub County Director of Education — not something the school determines for itself.
Quick reference: lessons, times and breaks by level
| Level | Lessons/day | Lessons/week | Lesson length | Reporting | Lessons run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-primary | 5 | 25 | 30 min | 8.30 am | 9.00 am – 12.00 pm |
| Grade 1–3 | 6 | 31 | 30 min | 8.00 am | 8.20 am – 12.30 pm |
| Grade 4–6 | 7 | 35 | 35 min | 8.00 am | 8.20 am – 2.35 pm |
| Grade 7–9 | 8 | 41 | 40 min | 8.00 am | 8.20 am – 3.20 pm |
| SNE foundation | 4 | 20 | 30 min | 8.30 am | 9.00 am – 12.00 pm |
| SNE intermediate | 6 | 30 | 30 min | 8.00 am | 8.20 am – 12.10 pm |
| SNE pre-vocational | 8 | 40 | 40 min | 8.00 am | 8.20 am – 3.20 pm |
Weekly totals include one Pastoral Programme of Instruction (PPI) lesson at every level.
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The gap between reporting time and the first lesson is not dead time. At pre-primary and SNE foundation level it is reserved for health checks and roll call; from Grade 1 upwards it covers roll call and assembly, with house meetings added at Grade 7–9 where applicable.
The timetabling committee
Every school is required to constitute a timetabling committee, chaired by the deputy head of the institution, with the senior teacher, teacher representatives from pre-primary, primary and junior school, heads of subject or learning area, and heads of department.
Note the structure: the head of institution is not a committee member. The committee develops the timetable, the head approves it. That separation is deliberate.
The committee meets at the start of every term to develop or review the timetable. Once approved it must be displayed in all administrative offices and on notice boards, and every teacher must extract their individual timetable from it.
Lesson allocations per learning area
Pre-primary (25 lessons)
| Learning area | Lessons |
|---|---|
| Creative activities | 6 |
| Language activities | 5 |
| Mathematical activities | 5 |
| Environmental activities | 5 |
| Religious activities | 3 |
| PPI / religious programmes | 1 |
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Grades 1–3 (31 lessons)
| Learning area | Lessons |
|---|---|
| Creative activities | 7 |
| English language activities | 5 |
| Mathematical activities | 5 |
| Kiswahili / Kenya Sign Language | 4 |
| Environmental activities | 4 |
| Religious education activities | 3 |
| Indigenous language activities | 2 |
| PPI | 1 |
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Grades 4–6 (35 lessons)
| Learning area | Lessons |
|---|---|
| Creative arts | 6 |
| English | 5 |
| Mathematics | 5 |
| Kiswahili / KSL | 4 |
| Science and technology | 4 |
| Agriculture | 4 |
| Religious education | 3 |
| Social studies | 3 |
| PPI | 1 |
Grades 7–9 (41 lessons)
| Learning area | Lessons |
|---|---|
| English | 5 |
| Mathematics | 5 |
| Integrated science | 5 |
| Creative arts and sports | 5 |
| Kiswahili / KSL | 4 |
| Religious education | 4 |
| Social studies | 4 |
| Pre-technical studies | 4 |
| Agriculture | 4 |
| PPI | 1 |
The plotting rules that are easiest to get wrong
Five constraints govern how lessons are arranged, and they are the ones inspectors check:
- Learning areas with similar skills, knowledge or concepts must not follow one another. The stated reason is to sustain learner interest and reduce monotony in skill acquisition.
- No double lessons at pre-primary, Grades 1–3 or Grades 4–6. At Grades 7–9 there is exactly one double lesson permitted, and only for integrated science, creative arts and sports, pre-technical studies and agriculture, for practical work. At SNE pre-vocational level, one double is permitted for pre-vocational skills.
- Creative and movement lessons go before a break. This applies to creative activities, creative arts and sports, psychomotor activities, movement activities and physical education. The rationale is that learners need the break to reset before the next lesson.
- Morning and afternoon balance. From Grade 4 upwards, learning areas must be distributed across morning and afternoon slots through the week rather than clustering.
- Non-formal programmes go after the last lesson — from 2.35 pm at Grades 4–6, and from 3.20 pm at Grades 7–9 and SNE pre-vocational, running to 4.45 pm. These cover games, clubs and societies, guidance and counselling, and community service learning.
There is also one explicit flexibility: in areas experiencing extreme temperatures, start and end times may be adjusted provided the required contact hours are maintained. That matters for schools in ASAL counties and the coastal strip, and it is the only geographic exception in the document.
PPI lessons must be handled by a responsible member of a recognised religious faith within the school community that is legally registered in Kenya.
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The underlying daily routine comes from the Basic Education Regulations, 2015: day schools may not require learners to report before 7.15 am; class hours run 8.00 am to 3.30 pm; co-curricular activities 3.30 pm to 4.45 pm. Boarding schools add self-directed activities 5.00 pm to 7.30 pm, preps 7.30 pm to 9.30 pm, and bed time from 9.30 pm to 6.00 am.
Special needs education: stage-based allocations
Foundation level (20 lessons) — communication and social skills 4, activities of daily living 4, religious education 2, psychomotor activities 2, orientation and mobility 2, pre-numeracy 2, sensory perception 1, creative activities 1, music and movement 1, PPI 1.
Intermediate level (30 lessons) — communication and social skills 5, movement activities 5, daily living skills 4, sensory motor integration 4, art and craft 4, numeracy 3, religious education 2, music 2, PPI 1.
Pre-vocational level (40 lessons) — pre-vocational skills 18, physical education 5, communication and functional literacy 4, daily living skills and nutrition 4, social studies 4, religious education 2, music and movement 2, PPI 1.
The guidelines attach an important caveat to the foundation level that applies in spirit across stage-based learning: learning is individualised for learners with special needs, so time allocation depends on completion and mastery of specific tasks. The 30-minute lesson is described as a guide, not a fixed rule.
Section B: how Curriculum Based Establishment is calculated
Curriculum Based Establishment is the number of teachers a school needs for effective curriculum implementation. Every school — pre-primary, primary, junior and special needs — is required to have an approved CBE.
The calculation rests on six considerations: the learning areas offered, the lessons allocated to each, the number of streams per class, the number of administrative positions, the minimum and maximum lessons per teacher, and the lesson shortfall created by administrators teaching reduced loads.
The approval route
| Step | Who acts |
|---|---|
| 1 | School applies to the Principal Secretary through the Sub County Director of Education (SCDE) |
| 2 | Sub County Quality Assurance and Standards Officer verifies learning areas and total lessons across all streams |
| 3 | SQASO computes the CBE and attaches the registration certificate confirming approved streams and enrolment |
| 4 | SCDE forwards the request to the PS for approval by the Head, Quality Assurance and Standards |
| 5 | Approved CBE dispatched to the TSC CEO for teacher provision, copied to the CDE, SCDE, the relevant directorate and the school |
The guidelines direct institutions to review their CBE regularly so it stays relevant. In practice that means after any change in streams or enrolment — a stale CBE is a common reason schools find themselves understaffed on paper as well as in fact.
Pre-primary and primary: the simple method
Pre-primary is one teacher per class, with a recommended class size of 25 learners.
Primary is the total number of classes plus one, the extra being the head of institution. Recommended class size is 45. The head teacher carries a workload of at least 15 lessons. House teachers (senior masters) are established at one per 270 boarders where applicable.
| Streams | Classes | Max enrolment | CBE | Deputy head teachers | Senior teachers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 270 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 12 | 540 | 13 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 18 | 810 | 19 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | 24 | 1,080 | 25 | 2 | 2 |
| 5 | 30 | 1,350 | 31 | 2 | 2 |
| 6 | 36 | 1,620 | 37 | 2 | 3 |
| 7 | 42 | 1,890 | 43 | 2 | 4 |
| 8 | 48 | 2,160 | 49 | 2 | 4 |
| 9 | 54 | 2,430 | 55 | 2 | 4 |
| 10 | 60 | 2,700 | 61 | 2 | 5 |
Where a school qualifies for two deputy head teachers, one takes academics and the other administration.
Junior school: the lesson-load method
Junior school abandons the classes-plus-one shortcut and calculates from teaching load. The baseline is a minimum of 27 lessons per week per teacher, with a maximum class size of 45.
Step 1 — teachers required per learning area. Add the lessons for that learning area across Grades 7, 8 and 9, then divide by 27. English at 5 lessons per grade gives 15 lessons, so 15 ÷ 27 = 0.555 teachers. Repeat for every learning area and sum. For a single-stream school the total is 123 lessons, giving 4.551 teachers.
For multiple streams, multiply each learning area’s lessons by the number of streams before dividing by 27.
Step 2 — the administrative shortfall. Administrators teach reduced loads: principal 10 lessons, deputy principal 20, senior master 20. The lessons they do not teach must be covered by someone. For a one-stream school:
- Principal: (27 − 10) × 1 = 17 lessons
- Deputy principal: (27 − 20) × 1 = 7 lessons
- Senior master: (27 − 20) × 1 = 7 lessons
- Total shortfall: 31 lessons → 31 ÷ 27 = 1.148 teachers
Step 3 — total. 4.551 + 1.148 = 5.699, rounded up to 6 teachers.
Always round up to the next whole number.
Junior school establishment by stream
| Streams | Classes | Max enrolment | Lessons | CBE | Deputy principals | Senior masters / HODs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 135 | 123 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 6 | 270 | 246 | 11 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | 9 | 405 | 369 | 16 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | 12 | 540 | 492 | 21 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | 15 | 675 | 615 | 25 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 | 18 | 810 | 738 | 30 | 1 | 5 |
| 7 | 21 | 945 | 861 | 35 | 1 | 5 |
| 8 | 24 | 1,080 | 984 | 40 | 2 | 6 |
| 9 | 27 | 1,215 | 1,107 | 44 | 2 | 6 |
| 10 | 30 | 1,350 | 1,230 | 49 | 2 | 6 |
| 11 | 33 | 1,485 | 1,353 | 54 | 2 | 7 |
| 12 | 36 | 1,620 | 1,476 | 58 | 2 | 7 |
Every figure in this table reproduces the guidelines except one. The published document lists maximum enrolment at 10 streams as 1,250. Thirty classes at the stated maximum of 45 learners gives 1,350, and every other row in the table follows that formula exactly. The 1,250 figure is a typographical error and has been corrected above — verify against your own copy before relying on it in an application.
Special needs: teacher-learner ratios
| Disability | Foundation & intermediate | Pre-vocational |
|---|---|---|
| Severe autism | 1:1 | 1:4 (autism) |
| Severe cerebral palsy | 1:1 | 1:4 (cerebral palsy) |
| Deafblindness | 1:1 | 1:4 |
| Multiple disabilities | 1:1 | 1:4 |
| Intellectual disabilities (mild to moderate) | 1:4 | 1:4 |
The shift from 1:1 to 1:4 at pre-vocational level is the single most consequential number in this section for special school heads planning establishment.
What these guidelines do not cover
Senior school is absent. The document stops at Grade 9. Grades 10, 11 and 12 are governed by separate KICD guidelines, published ahead of the first senior school cohort entering in January 2026.
Under those guidelines, senior school learners have eight lessons per day, totalling 40 lessons per week, with each lesson lasting 40 minutes, covering core, elective and support subjects. Physical education takes 3 lessons per week, ICT 2 lessons, and learner personal or group study and PPI one lesson each. Learners report at 8.00 a.m., with lessons beginning at 8.20 a.m. and ending at 3.20 p.m., and the period from 8.00 to 8.20 reserved for roll call, assembly and class meetings.
Learners take four core subjects — English, Kiswahili or Kenya Sign Language, core or essential mathematics depending on pathway, and Community Service Learning — plus three electives drawn from one of three pathways: STEM, Social Sciences, or Arts and Sports Science.
Do not apply the Grade 7–9 rules to a senior school timetable. The lesson count, the subject structure and the establishment logic all differ.
Establishment for senior school is also outside this document. TSC applies its own staffing norms there, and those norms are themselves under review.
Inconsistencies worth checking against your own copy
Working through the guidelines carefully turns up several points where the stated rule and the sample timetable in the appendices do not agree. None is fatal, but a head building a timetable from the appendices rather than the rules may end up out of step.
| Point | Stated rule | Sample timetable |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 1–3 end time | Lessons end 12.30 pm | Last lesson ends 12.00 pm |
| SNE foundation end time | Lessons end 12.00 noon | Last lesson ends 11.30 am |
| SNE pre-vocational breaks | 30 minutes after every two lessons | First break shown as 10 minutes |
| Junior school one-stream total | 4.551 teachers | 123 ÷ 27 is 4.556; the difference comes from summing rounded components |
The final row is trivially small, but it matters for larger schools where rounding compounds. Calculate from total lessons rather than summing rounded per-subject figures, and the result is cleaner.
Section 3.2 on intermediate level also begins its list at item (b) with no item (a) — a formatting slip rather than a missing rule.
Why an approved CBE matters more than it used to
An establishment figure is only useful if teachers exist to fill it, and the gap between the two is currently wide.
TSC has disclosed that public schools require an additional 96,345 teachers to meet current demand, with primary schools needing 38,054 more and junior and senior schools carrying a larger deficit of 58,291. TSC’s Director of Staffing has separately put the junior school shortage at 72,442 and confirmed that the Commission received the Ministry’s guidelines to enable it to determine exact numbers.
The Commission has also moved on registration rules to widen the pool. TSC announced in June 2026 that it would recruit and register secondary school teachers qualified in a single teaching subject, scrapping a longstanding two-subject requirement that had locked out specialists critical to the CBE rollout.
The administrative structure sitting above all this is still being settled. The National Conference on Education held at Naivasha from 7 to 9 May 2026 endorsed Comprehensive Schools operating under a unified governance structure with one Board of Management, one Head of Institution, and two deputy headteachers responsible for the primary and junior school sections respectively.
Comprehensive schools are not yet legally recognised, and the Ministry has drafted Bills pending in the National Assembly, with the dispute over junior school autonomy having reached the courts.
For a head of institution, the practical consequence is straightforward: the approved CBE is the document that converts your school’s curriculum obligations into a formal staffing claim. In a system short of roughly 96,000 teachers, a school without a current, correctly computed establishment has no basis on which to press its case.
Practical checklist for school heads
- Constitute or refresh the timetabling committee at the start of each term, chaired by the deputy head.
- Build from the KICD approved curriculum designs, not from last year’s timetable.
- Check the allocations add up — 25, 31, 35 and 41 lessons respectively, PPI included.
- Audit your break durations against the stated rules rather than the sample appendices.
- Recompute your CBE after any change in streams or enrolment, and submit the review through the SCDE.
- Keep the registration certificate current — the SQASO attaches it to confirm approved streams and enrolment.
- Display the approved timetable in administrative offices and on notice boards, and ensure every teacher extracts an individual copy.
Frequently asked questions
Does CBE mean Competency Based Education or Curriculum Based Establishment?
Both, depending on context. In staffing documents it means Curriculum Based Establishment. In curriculum discussion it means Competency Based Education. The Ministry guidelines use both senses.
How many lessons should a junior school teacher have?
The establishment calculation assumes a minimum of 27 lessons per week. Principals are allocated 10, deputy principals and senior masters 20 each, with the shortfall absorbed into the establishment.
Do these guidelines apply to senior school?
No. The document covers pre-primary to Grade 9 and stage-based special needs levels. Grades 10 to 12 follow separate KICD guidelines of 40 lessons per week at 40 minutes each.
Can my school change reporting or closing times?
Only in areas experiencing extreme temperatures, and only if the required contact hours are maintained. The Basic Education Regulations, 2015 bar day schools from requiring learners to report before 7.15 am.
Who approves a school’s CBE?
The Head of Quality Assurance and Standards, on behalf of the Principal Secretary, after the Sub County QASO computes it and the SCDE forwards it. It is then sent to the TSC CEO for teacher provision.
How many teachers does a one-stream junior school get?
Six. The calculation is 4.551 teachers for the teaching load plus 1.148 for the administrative shortfall, rounded up.
Curriculum Based Establishment and CBE Timetabling Guidelines Explained
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