It was commendable when the government implemented the Competency-Based Curriculum that was researched and developed by the Kenya Institute Of Curriculum Development.
CBC is full of practical lessons, unlike the 8-4-4 education system.
It's good that pupils can apply what they are taught in their classrooms.
On the other hand, when you delve deep into it, it has got its numerous challenges which mostly affect the parents than the school administrations and management.
CBC is too expensive, being a teacher of agriculture I have felt this so many times, where pupils are required to carry from home several items which in most cases are not available.
Agriculture is one of the most demanding and full of practical lessons compared to other newly CBC subjects.
It requires a school to have a garden where some schools are too squeezed and lack this space.
I pity schools located in dry areas like Turkana, where there is always drought, how do they manage to irrigate their crops?
When you look at schools located in slums, especially in Nairobi, there are no gardens, the soil is purely polluted due to industrialisation.
It forces them to look for another alternative which now becomes a burden to parents, to facilitate all these KNEC projects.
This is unlike the old syllabus, which is now finalised with Std 7 and 8 has got so many subjects.
It serves as another challenge where the time for teaching all these subjects is limited.
Some schools lack adequate teachers, so the only available teachers are forced to teach even four subjects which is tedious.
This now forces many schools to demand their pupils to come to school even on weekends and go home as late as 6 pm for timely completion of the syllabus.
For science and technology subjects, these students have access to modern equipment like smartphones, laptops, and tablets.
We all know some regions still experience power issues.
The electricity is not reliable.
Recently, we had a meeting with CBC parents, and the school deputy headteacher urged the parents to allow children to use smartphones.
Many come from poor backgrounds, they lack these computerised gadgets.
For those who can afford it, there is a need for supervision to keep children safe when online.
We all know we are in a technological society where people are modernised.
It sounds ironic to send a pupil home to come with skin and old artefacts to teach music and arts.
These are some of the things that are hard to get, many are found in museums.
Do you expect a pupil in Nairobi to have skin at home?
Other pupils do not live with their parents, but instead with elder siblings or guardians.
So it becomes a challenge for them to have time with pupils to assist them in doing their assigned practical homework.
As long as it's helping and preparing these students to have a sustainable future full of creativity, let's look with a second thought.
You will find in most cases when these students are sent back home to bring some things, parents complain a lot thinking that the school administration is using it as a trick to source money from parents.
Still, parents are demanded to complete school fee payments on time.
This now serves as a source of conflict between parents and school administration.
The incoming government should sit down and revise it fully to reduce the burden on parents alongside the high economy.
Bungoma
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
