The new curriculum is in disarray for lack of materials, shortage of teachers and shallow training.
The piloting of the
2-6-3-3-3 model
started nationwide in January, the intention being to phase out the
8-4-4 system in 10 years.
The new system places emphasis on formative years of learning where learners will spend a total of eight years - two in pre-primary and six in primary.
Read:
The pilot
covers two years of pre-primary and three years of lower primary education. So far, education stakeholders – teachers, parents and school management – are in a blame game on the progress of implementation six weeks to the end of the first term.
Some schools are yet to receive teaching materials while lack of sufficient training has left most teachers confused - a
number have reverted to the old syllabus.
The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development says more time is required to streamline activities in the education sector.
"Some schools have received teaching materials .. the process is ongoing ... some will receive
them in
due course," KICD director Julius Jwan
told The Star on
Sunday.
The institute is supposed to supply the curriculum design to all public and private schools
to guide how students ought to be taught.
KICD notes it was not required to
provide schools with new approved textbooks.
“The only book KICD was
required
to distribute was the grade three mathematics books, as part of a project between the government and the World Bank,”
Jwan said.
Other books were to be purchased by the Education ministry under the new book distribution policy.
The government is distributing the textbooks directly to schools, meaning school heads will no longer receive money to buy them as with the old arrangement.
Depleted resources
The institute relies on four printing firms in the publishing of curriculum designs.
Jwan notes that printing materials (papers) were exhausted by the bulk printing of new curriculum materials.
“We have four major printing firms in the country and since the printing of the new curriculum began, the material they use has been depleted. Things are a little slow since the paper used in the printing of the books is mainly imported."
The director adds the papers to print
the text books
might take longer to arrive, since they are imported.
But Shem Ndolo, the national chairman of the
Kenya Primary Schools Heads Association, told The Star on Sunday that school heads have not complained of not receiving teaching materials.
“My school and those surrounding it have already received the materials required to start teaching the new curriculum. We are yet to hold meetings where such issues might arise,” he says.
Peter Ndoro, Chief Executive Officer of the
Kenya Private Schools Association,
disputes the idea that new books are the main tool for proper teaching under the new curriculum.
Curriculum design is the backbone of competence in the rollout, he says, adding the content in lower primary classes remains the same.
“The only thing changing is how teachers will teach, now how students learn."
Related:
Teachers training
Kenya National Union of Teachers secretary general Wilson Sossion emphasises that training for a new curriculum must come with more time for teachers to get things right.
Sossion says the month-long training held in December last year was too shallow for a paradigm shift yet most teachers do not understand the new teaching procedure.
“Training is sensitive and ought to be deep and continuous. It should be similar to college training to enable teachers to fully understand the curriculum."
Regarding this, Jwan says the 2017 training was basic induction that will be followed by a programme
by the Teachers Service Commission.
The training - Continuous Professional Development - will be conducted during school holidays which fall in April, August and December.
Shortage of teachers
According to the global teacher-student ratio, Kenya falls below the required standard of 1:40 and there is currently a shortage of
100,000 teachers.
There are concerns as under the new curriculum, teachers will be required to pay special attention to individual learners.
“You have to spend more time with a student to know if he or she will pursue a career, work in the office or be prepared for casual employment,” notes a teacher at a Mt Kenya School.
On this, Sossion said: “It is wrong for huge amounts of funds to be allocated to the education sector while priorities are wrong. Teachers are the backbone; to successfully teach the new curriculum we need enough teachers."
He added that confusion has crowded most institutions.
Part of the funds used in the implementation of the new model will be from budgetary allocations while others will be in the form of donations, grants and loans.
One of the biggest funds is that of the Primary Education Development Project (PRIEDE) between the Kenyan government and the World Bank. It will help the country address key challenges affecting early grade primary school education and the Early Grade Mathematics (EGM).