The report of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms is now in the public domain. Have you so far indulged with report, which has been shared in this forum?
Personally, I have so far managed to only concentrate on chapter 2 regarding THE IMPLEMENTATION of the Competency Based Curriculum. Soon after the team had released it’s interim report in November 2022, I had shared my sentiments through Yu-Tube content.
Eventually, the same was delivered to the team through one of the members. I have no idea how the content was perceived by the entire team. Nevertheless, I have come across content circulating in the social media, which aligns the CBC structure with the views I had shared. One can’t be sure of the origin of this other perspective.
Meanwhile, in chapter 2 of the report, I have noticed some interesting observations, which may be of interest to most educationists. The 8-4-4 education system, was running for a minimum of 18 years up-to the time that a student acquires the first degree. That is 1 year nursery, 1 year pre-unit, 8 years primary, 4 years secondary and 4 years university – total 18 years.
The Competency Based Curriculum based on the implementation matrix will be 2-6-3-3 and 3 years minimum to graduate from university. That means the CBC students will spend 17 years up-to university, based on the report. Seemingly, there’s a difference of one year when the 2 curriculums are compared. This seems to be unclear to some stakeholders.
More still, the 8-4-4 system examines students on English, Kiswahili, Mathematics and 2 Science subjects, all of which are treated as compulsory. The results must further be aligned to a certain cluster depending on the desired progression of the student, after obtaining the results. That means a student loses consideration of grades for any subject that may not be within the cluster involved. It doesn’t matter the grade achieved on this subject.
The good news is that the PWPER noticed this anomaly and has made recommendations to the effect that high grades on subjects outside the cluster will now not be disregarded. What does this mean?
On a number of occasions, I have in this forum indicated that the focus of examinations could have been re- visited as soon as the KICD became aware of how to align the Competency Based Curriculum. Particularly, the issue of compulsory subjects could have been re-considered. All sciences for example could not have been made compulsory as has been the case in some schools.
But, there’s another great concern. The Junior school stucture of Grade 7, 8 & 9 seems to be the foundation where students will determine their career pathway. As they head to Senior School comprising grade 10, 11 & 12, they will seemingly be expected to be clear of their personalized career pathway.
Whether the Junior schools will have adequate facilities that will enable the students to assess their strengths and weaknesses, should be an issue of concern. As such, it seems that facilities that will accommodate, Arts and Sports Science, Social Science and STEM pathways should be available at both junior and senior schools.
Alternatively, teachers should be quite conversant with talent alignment as they guide students towards this critical stage of specialization, in Senior Schools. It’s only then that the desired objectives of the CBC will effectively be achieved.
FYI
Last week I attended the 1st birthday of a child whose parents are in their 30s.
At some stage, I was asked to say something to the youthful parents and their friends too. My message was simple.
Children are blessings to the parents, and they should bring forth as many as they can. Too much family planning today can be risky.
Each of the children arrives with inborn gifts from the maker. It is the responsibility of parents to discover those gifts and nurture them during the growth process. Luckily, the Kenyan education system has transformed the empowerment process through the Competency Based Curriculum – CBC.
In the future, it is unlikely that children will present dis-empowerment challenges to the parents, once they are through with school. Nobody was expecting that kind of advice. I believe the same resonates well with all young parents, doesn’t it?
Rgds
Mwangi Wanjumbi (MKIM)
Personal Empowerment Coach,
Speaker/Trainer on Strategy, Performance, Change Management and Leadership.
Seasoned Trainer of Trainers,
Competency Based Curriculum-CBC Architect,
Author of 1. KICD approved Career Dynamics in the 21st Century, 2. Living Beyond Survival:No More Tiptoeing in Life
- The 21st Century Student:Are You Creating The Future Today? Also, Retired 5 Year Monthly Strategy Columnist (2013 – 2018) for The SME Today Magazine Phone 254722516210
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