•Kuppet boss says curriculum should be changed every five years to stay up with the changing times.
•Current curriculum was launched in 1984.
Image: VICTOR IMBOTO
After every five years, there is an absolute need for a change in curriculum in any country. In Kenya, the new curriculum is long overdue. You realise 8-4-4 has been running from 1984 to date. So that means it has outlived its usefulness, especially to address the challenges of the 21st century.
We need to ask ourselves if the kind of education we are giving our children is useful and relevant in this era and age. Will their skills or knowledge make them employable? Is the current curriculum exploiting other horizons like creative arts for example? What about sports?
In Highland areas like Mt Kenya and some parts of Rift Valley, we are seeing people doing their own sports individually. People are talented but there are no schools or colleges or academies to nurture them. These are the same people who are going out to represent the county in various competitions. Even for football, which has employed very many people, there is no single academy run by the government to nurture the talents of young people.
We have children who are techno-savvy today. They are exploiting the gadgets and the technology of today. We cannot force those children to learn the same things that were taught in 1984 when the current curriculum was introduced.
With the thinking and the need to develop talent, the Competency-Based Curriculum comes as the answer. Our curriculum has been based on examination for very many years. We have people with grade As which they cannot support. At the same time we have people with grades D who are being told they are fools, they cannot go anywhere.
If a child has some competency in some area, you can have your grade D but still pursue your dream and talent and become a good mason, for example.
So in my view, I think the teachers themselves must prepare to adjust to the realities and challenges of today. We cannot compare the children of today and those of 1984. We need to be current and support the new curriculum.
The Kuppet secretary secretary general spoke to the Star