Kenya is ripe for new educational curriculum - experts

Educational experts have urged parents and teachers to ignore those opposed to the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) that the government is rolling out to replace the 8.4.4 system.

Dorothy Mwanzille, a senior curriculum development officer at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), and Kerugoya Municipality Primary School director Solomon Munene reiterated that Kenya was ripe for the new curriculum, which will nurture every learner’s potential.

Speaking during the launch of a talent academy at Kerugoya Municipality, Mwanzille  dismissed claims that CBC is informed by developments in politics or an agenda by officials to make money.

“The curriculum changes the country is embarking on are solely for professional reasons. It is being done as a result of research on curriculum needs and benchmarking with the best educational systems in the world, such as Malaysia’s,” she said.

The official observed global standards recommend for curriculum change every five years meaning that since 1985 when 8.4.4 was adopted, the curriculum should have changed seven times.

She noted that for a developing country it would not be easy to change the curriculum so often, but after 35 years that change is long overdue for Kenya.

Mwanzille explained that CBC deals with issues that were not there  such as insecurity borne by radicalization, policy developments such as the Vision 2030, technological advancements and changing societal values.

“Unlike the previous system where a learner was required to score highly in exams, the CBC focusses on what a child is gifted in."

It could be in arts, sports, dancing, sciences among others. The parent is also required to play an integral role in nurturing the child’s potential,” she said.

Munene said the era where private schools would bar weak students from registering for exams so as not to pull down the school’s mean grade was a thing of the past.

He advised parents to research and settle for schools which are best positioned to develop the unique abilities of their children.

According to Mwanzille, CBC has three tiers: Tier One starts with early years from PP1, PP2 and lower primary, grades 1, 2 and 3.

Tier two combines upper primary grades 4,5,6 and junior secondary grades 7,8 and 9.

The new curriculum is envisaged as shifting from focus on content to competencies and from teacher centered to learner centered.

Parents are required to work with their children to establish what they are gifted in.