Congratulations to all the 1,179,192 year 2020 candidates of the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education – KCPE. It’s commendable that the performance standards of public primary schools have shot up compared to previous years. Having 10 out of 15 top students from public compared to private schools is no mean achievement, especially after a long break occasioned by the corona virus pandemic.
The good news is that all the candidates are about to join the various secondary schools spread all around the country, based on the concept of 100% transition. There is concern nevertheless, in realization that the students have cleared the first empowerment stage, as clearly articulated in the KICD approved Career Dynamics in the 21st Century. But, are the education authorities aware of this concern on empowerment? Further, are the secondary schools adequately prepared for the newly expected guests?
As our mission of empowerment in schools took shape, one of the early strategies was to holistically reach out to Institutional managers of secondary schools in the country. The first interaction was with Nairobi County through a meeting of Principals summoned by the CDE on 25th January 2017. Soon after, our presentation, the CDE immediately facilitated another one targeting the Head Teachers of primary schools in Nairobi County, the following day. As such, it became easy to interact with and empower not only secondary, but also primary schools in Nairobi County.
Most primary schools had constraints of school libraries and could only do with a copy or two of Career Dynamics in the 21st Century. Alongside, only 2 primary schools benefitted from a seminar for teachers and parents too. Ideally, it couldn’t be possible to spread out to primary schools outside Nairobi.
This led to approaching at least 5 teacher training colleges outside Nairobi, aiming to empower the upcoming teachers themselves, but that strategy failed. The Institutional managers indicated that they could only act based on specific instructions on any new ideas from MOE HQs, a requirement that we deemed to be quite cumbersome.
Based on this background, it makes sense to realize that many years ago, there were two empowerment pathways in the school system. On one hand was the technical secondary education pathway that accommodated students who excelled in hands oriented tasks. Others were interested in the same, aiming to acquire skills that could lead to blue collar jobs. The alternative was the academic oriented pathway that prepared students for the white collar job empowerment pathway, which accommodated the majority.
Sadly, the 8-4-4 system killed the blue collar jobs empowerment pathway. Some of the technical secondary schools were turned into universities. This technical secondary school education, may now be inevitable, especially as schools prepare for the implementation of the new Competency Based Curriculum-CBC. Particularly, the Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics-STEM empowerment pathway will not work in the absence of bringing back technical education facilities in secondary schools. What about the effectiveness of the 100% transition strategy?
Currently, numerous students will continue delaying their eventual disempowerment for 4 years, as long as technical education continues being left at the mercy of Technical and Vocational Educational Training colleges – TVET. The same seems to be the key focus as regards skills associated with blue collar jobs.
In March this year, it was exciting to interact with a school in Laikipia County, where technical education focus became adopted as a key empowerment strategy in 2018. What about your school? How ready is it with regard to technical education? How about alignment of the academic pathways as from form 2 onwards? Seemingly, desired performance standards in the 21st Century, will only be achieved when students acquire proper guidance on their empowerment pathways, isn’t it?
Rgds
Mwangi Wanjumbi (MKIM)
Personal Empowerment Coach
Consultant/Seasoned Speaker/Trainer on Strategy, Performance, Change Management and Leadership.
Officially UNSUNG Architect of Competency Based Curriculum-CBC
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 254772516210
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