- Ang’awa says the continuation of the case with her name especially after the profiling will prejudice her and the education of her child.
- Ang’awa is among the advocates Chief Justice Martha Koome named and shamed for attempting to influence the court’s ruling on the Building Bridges Initiative Bill.
Image: COURTESY
An advocate who went to court challenging the roll out of the Competency Based Curriculum now wants out of the case.
Esther Ang'awa, also a parent, says she has been profiled by the government and is no longer interested in pursuing the case.
Ang’awa is among the advocates Chief Justice Martha Koome named and shamed for attempting to influence the court’s ruling on the Building Bridges Initiative Bill.
The CJ spotlighted Nelson Havi, Ahmednassir Abdullahi and Ang’awa saying some of the comments they made bordered on “intimidation.”
Ang’awa has all along been the petitioner in the CBC case which is before Justices Anthony Mrima, Hedwig Ong’undi and Anthony Ndungu.
She now seeks to have her name substituted with that of her advocate Havi.
Also sought is an order that the proceedings and all documents filed be amended to indicate that Havi is the petitioner.
Ang’awa says the continuation of the case with her name, especially after the profiling, will prejudice her and the education of her child.
But Kuppet, a party in the case, asked the court to have the matter withdrawn saying Ang’awa did not file the petition out of public interest.
“This petition being of a personal nature, let it be withdrawn and Ang’awa condemned to pay costs to all parties to act as a deterrent to like-minded sensational litigants,” the court heard.
The bench will give its ruling on June 9.
In the case filed in September last year, Ang’awa, seeks to suspend further implementation of the CBC for basic education.
She says the curriculum has imposed an economic burden of procuring learning materials and curriculum designs without regard to the real dynamics of the Kenyan population and the needs of the society.
The burden falls on children, teachers, parents and caregivers.
The national rollout of CBC started in January 2019 at Pre-Primary I and II and Grades 1, 2 and 3 in lower primary.
The 2-6-3-3-3 curriculum was billed as the ultimate game changer in the country’s education, as it seeks to plug gaps noted under the 8-4-4 system of rote learning. It is yet to be fully embraced.
In her court documents, Ang’awa through Havi says the legal framework necessary for the change of the system and structure of education has not been put in place to date.
Parent also fault the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development for failing to demonstrate that it initiated and conducted research to inform the national government of the CBC curriculum.
“The entire process of conception, introduction and implementation of the curriculum in basic education is undertaken in an opaque manner, without observing the law and participation of the people,” she says.
The adoption of the curriculum was recommended to Education CS George Magoha and KICD by the National Assembly.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)