Current CBC framing has disadvantaged NEP children – official

Garissa Kenya National Union of Teachers executive Abdirizack Hussein has urged President William Ruto to ensure the 42-member task force committee gets views about CBC from across the county.

Hussein said they were optimistic that at the end of the exercise, CBC will either be redesigned or scrapped altogether to come up with a new curriculum.

He said the curriculum as currently framed, has disadvantaged children from pastoral communities saying they are waiting for the committee to tour the region, to express their views.

“Pastoralists move from one place to another in search of water and pasture and when they do so, they move with their families,” he said.

“CBC requires learners to be in school all the time because of continuous assessment tests which are then forwarded to Knec. However, the issue comes up when a learner finds themselves in another school and region and their marks will not be traced.”

The Knut official spoke in Garissa on Wednesday.

Hussein said the shortage of teachers was also another challenge saying while CBC requires more teachers to ensure that it is well implemented, the NEP region has a shortage, further disadvantaging learners.

On the issue of uploading exams through the internet, Hussein said most schools in remote areas don’t have internet and teachers have to trek for long distances to download exams.

Two weeks ago the President appointed a 42-member task force to evaluate the country's education system and come up with recommendations.

Key among them is an appropriate structure to implement the Competency-Based Curriculum.

In a Gazette Notice dated September 30, 2022, President Ruto said the Working Party on Education Reform will work for six months and will be required to submit to him a progress report every two months from the date of their appointment.

The team, which will be chaired by Prof Raphael Munavu, comprises globally celebrated Kenyan teacher Peter Tabichi, Mutheu Kasanga, who was part of the CBC task force and Prof Collins Odete among others.

The task force, which has also been assigned seven secretaries, will study all laws governing the basic education subsector.

They will then make recommendations for review of the legislation, to address duplication, ambiguities, efficiency, constraints and improving linkages.

Edited by Kiilu Damaris