• He says the country will never be ready for the rollout if we wait to have all the tools supplied.
• Knut is against CBC on grounds the country is not ready for it.
Image: JACK OWUOR
Education CS George Magoha on Tuesday urged the Kenya National Union of Teachers to support the competency-based curriculum.
Magoha said those criticising the ministry should provide concrete solutions to move the sector forward.
The CS has been at loggerheads with Knut secretary general Wilson Sossion over the rollout of the new curriculum.
Sossion has maintained that the CBC is being rushed and that the country is not ready for the rollout.
But Magoha insists there is no turning back on the rollout that is currently ongoing from Pre-primary to Grade 3.
Stakeholders including the secondary school heads (Kessha), the Catholic Church and secondary school teachers union (Kuppet) support the new curriculum.
Magoha acknowledged teething problems with the new curriculum but said those should not stop its implementation.
“There are problems that I need all of you, including Knut, to support because you have the mandate to support the CBC,” he said.
He said it was bold for the government to launch the CBC and that they are doing all they can to ensure its success.
“The country will never be ready to roll out CBC,” Magoha said.
He spoke while opening the 44th Kenya Secondary School Heads Association annual conference at the Kenya School of Revenue Administration in Mombasa.
Kessha chairman Indimuli Kahi said CBC is key in the country’s education and economic sectors. “We must move forward,” he said.
He noted that Kessha was the first to raise the red flag on the old 8-4-4 system saying it had flaws that were making Kenya uncompetitive in the world.
Magoha said there will never be a time when is one has all the tools ready to start a project.
Projects, he said, are started with the key ingredients and then completed gradually with other ingredients as time goes by.
“My plea to the others is to please, come on board, but don’t come on board by saying we have to roll this thing back. I have my orders from my employer which I will defend with the last drop of my blood,” the CS said.
He said he has visited more than 50 primary schools unannounced and has been impressed by what has been happening with the new curriculum.
He asked the Knut leadership to move to the ground and countercheck.
The CS noted that the CBC will need more infrastructure, saying the government has only released Sh1.2 billion for the rollout.
Parents of goodwill may be asked to chip in and help support the programme, he said.
“Why can’t we ask the parents who can afford to chip in? But please, let principals not ask for money for other things. And don’t take a child out of school because they have not contributed. Because it should be a voluntary contribution."
The CS said everybody’s contribution towards the CBC must be based on truth.
(Edited by R.Wamochie)