- The curriculum been criticised by stakeholders and politicians who say it is costly and the implementation is a rush.
- Despite the ‘teething’ problems, which have been raised by pioneers, Uhuru said the system will soon be polished.
Image: ENOS TECHE
President Uhuru Kenyatta has slammed critics fighting the Competency Based Curriculum saying there is no turning back.
“We believe in the successes achieved in the short period of time,” he said.
The President spoke during the 59th Madaraka Day celebration at Uhuru Gardens on Wednesday.
The curriculum whose implementation started in 2017 has seen more than eight million learners benefit.
It has however been criticised by stakeholders and politicians who say it is costly and the implementation is a rush.
This includes Deputy President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza camp that promised to scrap CBC, if elected.
Experts have warned that the push by Ruto’s camp to scrap CBC will see more than Sh200 billion go down the drain.
The education future of more than eight million CBC learners would also be thrown into disarray should the proposal to abolish the new curriculum succeed.
Uhuru said the curriculum strives to ensure learners develop holistically.
“A system that celebrates creative potential for our children, as opposed to one that leaves them with labels of failure, if they do not pass exams,” he said.
The curriculum pioneer cohort is currently at Grade 6 and will transit to Grade 7 in 2023.
Grade 6 will sit the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment for three days, starting November 28.
Despite the ‘teething’ problems, which have been raised by pioneers, Uhuru said the system will soon be polished.
He said these same problems, which faced the previous 8-4-4 curriculum pushed for the adoption of CBC.
“And if the systems are inconsistent with the aspirations of the people then the systems must be changed,” Uhuru said.
The President said the CBC implementation in Kenya is the first in Africa.
“We have also achieved Africa’s first one to one book-child ratio, to restore integrity of our national examinations,” he said.
Uhuru further said he supports the 100 per cent transition, which is in its fifth year.
He also said since the Jubilee government took over, there has been remarkable development in terms of vocational training.
“We had 52 institutions in 2013 but as we speak we have 238 institutes reflecting a 435 per cent growth,” the President said.
According to the economic survey, the total number of schools grew by 1.4 per cent from 88,506 to 89,747 in 2021.
The number of primary schools increased from 46,652 in 2020 to 46,671 in 2021.
However, the transition rate declined from 91.0 per cent in 2020 to 78.5 per cent in 2021.
Total enrollment in secondary schools rose by 4.9 per cent from 3.5 million in 2020 to 3.7 million in 2021.
The status of enrolment of students in secondary schools decreased as students progressed with their studies.
The survey shows not all students who get admitted to Form 1 finish their studies at Form 4.
The gross secondary school enrolment rate is at 76.2 per cent while the net enrolment rate is at 42.4 per cent.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)