Before conducting a review of the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) system, School principals have requested that President William Ruto establish appropriate structures and present clear financial modules.
During his speech on Monday, September 19, Kahi Indimuli, the chairman of the Kenya Secondary’s Heads Associations (KSSHA), highlighted that the government needed to assure school heads of transition plans, CBC financing, and capacity building.
Additionally, headteachers seek for reassurance on the interpretation and implementation of the curriculum, as well as quality assurance and the structure of the CBC.
“Putting a task force at this point in time may take a whole year and we have a transition to take. Maybe it would take some kind of a working committee to address a few areas regarding CBC implementation,” Kahi stated in an interview with Citizen TV.
However, the principals’ primary concern is the amount of time that will be required to implement the changes to the CBC that were suggested by the task force that Ruto established in order to examine the curriculum. Kahi claimed that the time frame does not permit a comprehensive revamp of the system, especially considering that the first class is anticipated to transition in January of 2023.
To put a stop to the confusion, he suggested that the government led by Ruto give priority to the gray areas that were identified by school heads.
Kahi continued by saying that a hasty decision may undermine the progress that was accomplished and cause a crisis before the beginning of the next academic year.
The CBC curriculum is good. CBC requires us to identify competencies, nurture these competencies and allow children to pick the various pathways,” he stated.
“CBC is more child-centred as opposed to teacher centred. 8-4-4 is a structure of education,” he added.
Learners will spend two years at the pre-primary level, then proceed to primary school from grade one to six, and then transition to secondary school for six years, a period that will be split into two: junior secondary school (three years), and senior secondary school (three years).
Learners will subsequently be required to spend a minimum of three years in institutions of higher learning in order to meet the specifications of the system.
President William Ruto has pledged to reevaluate the education system to make it more responsive to the needs of the economy and less financially burdensome for families.
In an effort to dissuade the President from terminating CBC, the outgoing Education Cabinet Secretary, George Magoha, argued that it was essential to provide the most recent generation of students with the knowledge as well as the capacity to learn and relearn.
He continued to insist that the CBC was essential to resolving the current economic issues, despite the growing amount of pressure to eliminate it.
The current environment is radically different from what the 8-4-4 system of education was created to respond to. We are now in a knowledge-based society faced with constantly changing challenges, constraints and opportunities.
In a message that was distributed by the Ministry of Education, Magoha was quoted as saying, “This requires a new sort of education
