The government will in January roll out the new curriculum targeting learners in pre-primary, grade one, two and three.
The roll-out comes to effect after a year-long pilot conducted in all schools in grade two and for some 350 schools in grade three.
This means schools across the country will fully shift formally adopt the new system that focuses on skills instead of knowledge.
However it will be a miss on the curriculum developer as it targeted the roll out to go to grade four and move progressively up the system.
The inaugural students were set to complete high school in 2027.
In effect, 8-4-4 will continue until the last batch sits Form Four exams in 2026.
This means, the old system will now be wiped out from schools an year later in 2028.
According to the sources, budget constrains have been the main challenges affecting the new system.
The new system has also suffered lack of multi-agency cooperation during the pilot period.
For example, the new curriculum plans to text students in the fourth grade before and the sixth grade however, the Kenya National Examination Council is yet to come up with an assessment framework.
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Training of teachers conducted during the holidays has also been pointed as an area of weakness as it is conducted by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development instead of the Teachers Service Commission.
“The new curriculum is not a solo mandate of KICD it involved other agencies such as TSC and KNEC,” said the source.
However, education CS Amina Mohamed, defended the decision to roll out the curriculum to grade 3 a miss of the curriculum developer blueprint that targeted fourth grade.
“Evaluation of the CBC was completed two weeks ago. I am happy to note that indicators of evaluation based on the evaluation report have shown good results, although we have room for improvement,” Amina said.
According to the report, the quality of CBC implementation stands at 56 per cent.
This is six points above the minimum threshold set out for global standards for such an exercise set at 50 per cent.
Teacher assessment feedback based on learners’ achievement stands at 50 per cent while quality of the learning environment and support for the CBC stands at 62 per cent.
Kenya Primary Schools Heads Association chair Shem Ndolo raised fears that the implementation would go south should the government not relook into the provision of support materials.
“We don’t want to be on the wrong side of history. This is our next generation put on the line. If the curriculum fails due to lack of support materials their future is doomed,” N dolo told the Star yesterday on phone.
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New Pilot
In the roll out, some 350 schools in grade four will have the privilege of piloting the new curriculum.
This means students in classes four -apart from the schools taking part in the pilot- to eight will still undertake the old system 8-4-4.
Known as competence-based curriculum (CBC), the new system focuses on skills instead of knowledge.
Kenya Private Schools association chair Peter Ndolo yesterday called on the government to fund the curriculum if it is to succeed.
“Money should not be an issue fight for this new curriculum we have come this far,” Ndolo said.
The new curriculum is phased as follows two years of pre-school, six years of primary school, six years of high school, and three years of tertiary education (2-6-6-3).
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In its naming system, classes will henceforth be referred to as grades rather than standards as is currently the case.
The piloting stage will involve training of all teachers, refining of the curriculum content, development of a framework for testing, and preparation of teaching and learning materials. Initially, the actual implementation was meant to start this year. However, that has been pushed forward by one year.