For a long time, the Kenyan education system has been based on books. Life skills and talents were not prioritised as they came at the tail-end of the classroom-based curriculum. Education was based on the banking concept, where teachers knew everything and students knew nothing.
The banking concept of education implies that students patiently receive, memorise and repeat what teachers teach them. However, this mode of education deprives children of creativity, transformation and critical life skills. Children did not fully develop their critical consciousness as there was no room for creative and critical thinking.
For instance, children memorised that five times five is 25 and that the capital city of Kenya is Nairobi. However, the children do not understand why Nairobi is the capital and not another city like Kisumu. The children memorise the functions of the three arms of the government but they do not understand why they are independent or why they exist in the first place.
The new competency based curriculum, however, gives room for interactive learning. Teachers are no longer the all-knowing people. Children now have room to showcase their talents and creativity.
Therefore, rare talents can be tapped at an early age and developed fully. Furthermore, the teacher-student partnership encourages students to give feedback. Based on the feedback, teachers can devise ways of making learning more interactive and understandable.
Nakuru
