As we continue witnessing the transformation of the Kenyan education system, there are some issues that may be of great concern to all stakeholders. The most some of us can do is to reflect on the concerns and probably just share our views. The rest is beyond our control.

Of great interest is that the funding strategy of university education, which has been under Higher Education Loans Board – HELB, since the days of the first Kenyan Government has been transformed. Wheras everybody who qualifies to join university has all over the years been free to apply for funding, based on uniform terms, the situation has now changed drastically.

It is now a matter of various levels of funding depending on individualized circumstances. Family financial abilities will now be assessed before the funding levels can be determined. What is not clear is whether the funding will be reviewed anually or is a one-off application. What happens when family financial situations change out of job-loss, economic constraints and such other circumstances?

Further, it has been noticed that numerous university education applicants are being influenced by the fees payable, to pursue the various cheaper courses, rather than what they qualify for. Somebody qualifying for a medical degree course for example may decide to pursue a Bachelor of Commerce Course, on the basis of course fees that may be more affordable. Should these strategies not lead to university education becoming a preserve for the rich?

More still,, will the aspirations of the Competency Based Curriculum – CBC that aim to align students with their natural orientations not be jeopardized, under such circumstances? Worryingly, could this not be a great avenue of unknowingly reversing the key objectives of nurturing talents through the CBC? Why allow wastage of natural talent, on the basis of considering financial abilities?

Another great concern is that the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms recommended that grade 7-9 be premised in primary schools, but as Junior Secondary schools. That means an additional class is required in all primary schools for accommodation of the grade 9 students.

We now have just one year and 3 months for students to transit to grade 9. Many educational stakeholders are left wondering how well the Junior schools will be prepared towards accommodating this new class. That becomes even more complicated , especially in light of ongoing challenges being experienced in the management of schools.

Mind you, we all witnessed a crash program of building a CBC class in secondary schools, last year, which was never utilized. More still, senior schools are supposed to have only 3 classes comprising of Grade 10, 11 and 12, based on the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms.

As such, one class will again be in total disuse. Had the idea of continuous improvement of the education system been embraced, as recommend by some stakeholders, the need for new structures and wastage of others would never have occured.

Nevertheless, we have no choice but to continue observing the direction of the education system. How the desired aspirations of the transformation of the education system will be achieved continue being of concern to most stakeholders, isn’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

3. 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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The experiences of Saturday 9th September 2023 were rather unusual. Some of us found time to experience the 90th Anniversary Celebrations of Kagumo High school, which contributed immensely towards becoming who we are today. Besides, we fully sponsored the function through the Kagumo Old Boys Association – KOBA.

There were numerous activities during the day involving not only the old boys, but also the students themselves. The peak of them all was the speeches by various speakers. Particularly, the concerns of the school principal were quite noticeable. “Since the beginning of the 100% transition of students to secondary schools, the work of educational administrators is seemingly to continue dumping additional students to the school. Nobody cares where they will sleep or how they will go to class. Imagine a population of more than 2000 students within such a short time!” lamented the principal.

The revelations of the Chairman of the Kagumo Old Boys Association – KOBA were equally noticeable. As the school goes through various challenges, the old boys had taken it upon themselves to variously contribute to activities of the school which include;- stocking of the school library, development of new administration block, renovation of school dormitories which included installation of solar water heating systems. That was quite a milestone compared to experience during earlier years.

Another great effort is initiating the an endowment fund, which caters for school fees for challenged students. The current focus is construction of the school multipurpose hall, staff houses and many other projects.

Speeches of old boys such as James Macharia, the former insfrustracture Cabinet Secretary and Dr. Dan. Gikonyo Founder of Karen Hospital were also quite inspiring. One can’t fail to mention other outstanding Kenyans from Kagumo High School, who have variously contributed to national interests such as Dr. James Mwangi, Equity Bank CEO, Gideon Muriuki, Co- op Bank CEO, Prof Njuguna Ndung’u, Treasury CS, Hon Mutahi Kagwe Former CS, renown for his efforts in taming the Coronavirus pandemic and Bishop Anthony Muheria amongst others.

The same school also produced authorities such as former Governors Waithaka Mwangi & Kimemia of Nyandarua, Former Governor Mureithi of Laikipia, late Dr. Wahome Gakuru, Governer of Nyeri county. We were also reminded that the same school had produced other former National Authorities such as the late Dr. Gikonyo Kiano, Late Jeremiah Nyaga, Late Matu Wamae and many more.

The Speech of the chief guest who was none other than the the Kenyan 2nd Lady, Dr Dorcus Gachagua was also of great concern. Her efforts towards the empowerment of the boy child can’t be taken for granted, especially considering that she was addressing boys themselves.

Meanwhile, one could not fail to notice the presentation of the oldest of the old boys of Kagumo High school who participated in the celebration. This old boy revealed that he joined the school in 1956, when most of us were not born. He later proceeded to Makerere University, Uganda, where he eventually graduated as a Land Surveyor.

In 1970, this land Surveyor started the first private firm engaged in land surveying, which he still practices up-to now. Inspired by the alertness of this 80 Years plus professional, I sought to know what inspires him to be that active even at his advanced age. “I am always seeking to acquire new knowledge. Do you have something I can read?”

The surveyor quickly grabbed a copy of Living Beyond Survival upon noticing the same. His response keeps reminding me of the assertions by Henry Ford who said that “You are old at 20 if you stop learning and young at 80 years of you continue learning.”

All the same, why share the experiences at Kagumo High School? Seemingly, there are great untapped resources through the alumni of almost every school. Many Kenyans will be ready to proudly give back to the institutions that made them what they became, isn’t it?

FYI

Seemingly, schools need to go back to the drawing board since science subjects will no longer be compulsory. Only Mathematics, English and Kiswahili will now be compulsory. How will students benefit from this new development? What challenges will be encountered?

We already have readymade answers on these questions. That’s why one school in Nairobi engaged us for guidance during subject selection sessions for the form one classes in 2015, 2016 & 2017.

Another School in Kiambu has done the same for the 2021, 2022 and 2023 Form 2 Classes, again during subject selection sessions. Remember, our KICD approved Career Dynamics in the 21st Century was used for the architecture of the Competency Based Curriculum.

The same principles embraced have been used to transform the empowerment strategy of the remnants of the 8-4-4 system. So, make good use of this transformation strategy for the form 1 or 2 classes as they select subjects. You will never regret the results that will be achieved through improved performance of the students and the school too. WELCOME!!! We are just a phonecall away.

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

3. 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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After conducting a seminar for the 2023 form 4 class of a national school, sometimes in July this year, we were invited for further engagements. This is definitely of interest to all educationists, majority of who are parents as well. Perhaps, the invites were occasioned by the feedback from the students, as well as the teachers supervising the session.

A What’s Up message, informed us that parents of the school were involved in meetings on different days and could also benefit through our interactions. Most importantly, they could benefit from not only our publications, but also tips on the ongoing transformation of the education system.

During the first meeting, we took the parents through understanding how and why our empowerment mission became embraced by the school system, some years. This time, we generally revealed some empowerment tips from “Career Dynamics in the 21st Century,” our first publication. However, this seemed not to be enough, based on yet another communication from the school.

“Parents assume that their roles become complete after paying school fees and buying school uniform. Let them also understand their other responsibilities that are of critical importance, during the empowerment of their children,” the message stated.

Our response was quite simple. We indicated that we will comply, but upon extension of our time by a few minutes. During the second meeting, we were well set for the advice to parents. In any case, it only involved some extracts from chapter 7 titled “Living on Purpose,” from “Living Beyond Survival: No More Tiptoeing in Life,” our second publication.

Our presentation regarding parents’ roles revealed that SUCCESS IN LIFE ( as is the case with LEADERSHIP) must always be guided by a master strategy. That means following a mission, vision, values, goals etc. That is applicable to each one of us, not only as organizations, but also individuals. Equally, it applies to our children.

As such, it is the role of every parent to be involved in helping their children to develop this master strategy, from early stages in life. What particularly are they good at that may help them understand their purpose or Mission in life?

Values which relate to integrity, honesty, sincerity etc are of critical consideration in the successful application of the master strategy. Most importantly, every parent who would like their children to copy their behaviors, should be very proud of the same.

Those parents who would hate the children copying their behaviours, need to revisit the situation. Why? Children will easily and continually copy habits from their parents, right from childhood.

The same lessons continued in that format right through the 2nd, 3rd and 4th meetings. The good news is that parents kept on indicating that the communication was precise, but equally challenging. Surprisingly, some counseling psychologists in the sessions equally indicated that they felt challenged.

Meanwhile, lessons through our publications and presentations too are largely practical. They involve matters that routinely affect our lives and what needs to be done to perfect them. The issue of values particularly is quite critical, since they largely contribute to sustainability of success.

Perhaps, we need to follow some tips on the same from Warren Buffett which say ” In looking for people to hire, look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy. And if they don’t have the first one, the other two will kill you.” That is why values are critical components required during the empowerment of all children, as they progress towards becoming our future leaders.

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

3. 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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It is now officially acknowledged that no Kenyan Student will any longer be forced to undertake studies that are related to their weaknesses. Only English, Kiswahili and Mathematics are compulsory subjects as from the 2023 KCSE Examinations.

The rest of the testing will involve 5 other subjects, which will not necessarily be aligned with subject clusters. This direction provided by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms-PWPER, safes the 5 year remnants of the 8-4-4 from challenges associated with this current curriculum. Most importantly, the students have unknowingly been suddenly hopped from the 20th to 21st Century Paradigms. What does this mean?

Schools will now be free to align students with their natural orientations, safe for the three compulsory subjects. What will now be most critical is to understand the different career pathways likely to suit every student.

That does not necessarily mean specific careers. The likely challenges may mostly have been unexpected. Why so? Majority of Educationists were mostly just waiting for the end of the 8-4-4 system.

But, based on these recent developments, those students aligned to humanities will have their interests taken care of. Likewise, those aligned to sciences and technical subjects as well, will equally focus on their interests. The passion of those able to fit in different pathways will also come into play.

The main concern is, will the learning programs in schools quickly adapt to these changes? Ideally, adapting to the changes is inevitable since the issue of continued conditioning of students should now be a thing of the past. Remember that conditioning has widely been occasioned by making students to follow extrinsic rather than intrinsic factors. How?

Subject clusters have been critical in determining the direction of every student, as they focus on specific careers. The weight will now focus towards following different career pathways, without any forced considerations.

Seemingly, it may now be easier for KUCPS – Kenya Universities and Colleges Placement Services to just align candidates with their strengths. Your guess on the likely success of this approach could be as good as mine, isn’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

3. 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

Welcome to our YouTube Channel under Mwangi Wanjumbi – Empowerment Forum

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Successful implementation of the Competency Based Curriculum – CBC is still of great concern to numerous educationists. Alongside, some interesting questions have been posed through a side chat by one follower.

“I have noticed through your channel that some teachers re-enter school to re-align their knowledge after your seminars. Have you had difficult experiences from some of the teachers? How may the difficult experiences affect the implementation of the CBC?” enquired the follower.

Upon jogging my memory, I recalled quite a number of issues that may be of interest to most educationists. But first, it is important to realize that only 10% of teachers joined the profession by choice.

Another 40 – 50% of teachers became passionate about the career while at work. So, there is still a balance of 40-50% who don’t like the job at all. Imagine, similar statistics have been noticed when conducting seminars for other professionals, such as accountants!

All the same, during our seminars for teachers, some have revealed (through evaluation forms) that they will quit the career. Others have transformed their lives soon after interacting with our publications ( chech https://youtu.be/DD9R0e8BIbc?si=uXbXO9tbFu0yE5aa) In one case, one teacher never reported back to work after the holidays in 2021, based on feedback from the school principal. What could have led to this scenario?

Ideally, people who are dispassionate about their work end up unknowingly going through some form of punishment. The impact is however not easily noticed, since there are rewards attached to this experience.

Notably though, there is likelihood of such dispassionate professionals having challenged attitudes, about their roles and expectations too. One may wonder how our empowerment interventions are affected in such situations.

The truth is that we have reasonably positive experiences. This is proven by the fact that on a number occasions, we have been engaged to conduct seminars for students after executing those for teachers. We have also had some schools engaging us again and again for students’ seminars for different classes over the years. This is now we’ll documented.

However, one situation almost put us off balance one time. A day school based somewhere in Muranga County engaged us to conduct a seminar for the form 3 and 4 classes in May 2019. The seminar was supervised by the Deputy Principal as well as the guiding and counselling teacher. Each of the two kept leaving the hall at different times, but still resuming their roles.

At the end of the seminar, the students filled our usual evaluation forms for the same. Eventually, we dispatched the forms and the respective report to the school. Later, we sought feedback from the principal, who had been briefed by his teacher and deputy principal.

Sadly, the principal indicated that feedback was that they were not sure that the seminar was worthwhile. Why? They noticed very unfamiliar advice provided to students. Could this be based on the fact that only the principal had accessed the concept titled CAREER DYNAMICS IN THE 21ST CENTURY? Notably, this is what attracts schools to our seminars.

Meanwhile, the good news is that the students had in writing indicated full praise of the seminar. As such, our response was to advise the principal to wait for the KCSE results for the year, if the students are able to apply the knowledge acquired.

Eventually, the school’s mean grade shot from 5.9 – 6.6 upon release of the 2019 KCSE results. The students who qualified to join universities increased from 55 to 86 (56.36%). Incidentally, the school continued being a popular benchmarking station from schools in different counties.

In the 2020 KCSE results, the school achieved a mean grade of 6.2, despite the impact of the COVID 19 phenomenon. We still maintain good contacts with the then school principal, even upon his transfer to a larger school. Why share this?

For the desired achievements of the CBC to take shape, great efforts have to be put in place regarding taking teachers through the inevitable paradigm shifts. Need for emphasis on philosophical perspectives cannot be gainsaid, even as weighty technicalities, as well as infrastructure are considered. The concern is whether the entire teaching fraternity is ready for this framework.

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

3. 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

Welcome to our YouTube Channel under Mwangi Wanjumbi – Empowerment Forum

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Talks regarding the ongoing transformation of the education system are quite rife. Of great interest is how Kenyans are comparing the same with past experiences. While in a social gathering this week, I happened to interact with a lady, who is in her 70s. She is still mentally alert and also a very staunch catholic.

Having interacted with her for many years, I at least know that she attended a renown Catholic school, during her early days. So, I felt I needed to throw a question or two and gauge her reactions.

Madam Diana as we can refer to her for now was quite at ease. “Madam! l have observed you for many years and I keep wordering whether you had ever imagined of becoming a Catholic Nun, had you? I enquired.

Madam Diana: Me becoming a Nun! That had never occurred in my mind, all the time I was in school. However, some of my schoolmates longed to become Nuns and they actually made it.
Me: But, Madam what were the reasons that that enabled you to avoid becoming a Nun, yet being such a staunch catholic?
Madam Diana: There are many reasons, but foremost of all of them was the education system of those days.
Me: Which one was it?
Madam Diana: The 1:7: 2:2: 2: 3 education system was quite interesting. It involved 1 year in Nursery School, 7 in primary School, 2 in Junior school, 2 in senior school, 2 in A levels and finally 3 in university, thus a total of 17 years in Kenyan Schools.
Me: Thank you for that revelation, but how did it work for you?
Madam Diana: The education system that time was like a sieve. It was easy to chose joining technical secondary school after leaving primary school. Others sought admissions in academics. At form 2, there was a junior secondary school examination generally sat by those in private schools.
Me: Why not all secondary schools?
Madam Diana: Those in public schools were proceeding from Form 1 – 4. Those in private schools who passed junior secondary school exams were admitted to public secondary schools. Alternatively, they could be enlisted to join such careers as nursing amongst others.
Me: Really?
Madam Diana: In other words, there were numerous opportunities spread at different levels of education. Those who proceeded to Form 4 had numerous openings in teaching and agricultural institutions amongst others, for diploma courses.
Me: What of those who pursued A level education?
Madam Diana: Those who excelled could eventually pursue university education for high order careers such as Law, Engineering and many others. Those unsuccessful were still joining different colleges offering courses in agriculture, teaching and many others.
Me: Why didn’t you then consider becoming a Nun?
Madam Diana: With those kind of wide widespread opportunities, becoming a Nun was not aligned with my passion.

With these perceptions in mind why is it that there is so much dis-empowerment in the school system. Ideally, it seems that the focus of the 8-4-4 education system killed that process of sieving which happened in different stages.

Seemingly, the 8-4-4; education system unified the levels of education after abolishing some of those, in the previous system. The A level classes were for example abandoned.

Mind you, the 8-4-4 system was meant to be generally practical therefore offering opportunities to the huge majority of students. But, had that been achieved?

The opportunities in the 8-4-4 education system seem to have been diluted, especially with the killing of the blue collar job empowerment pathway. That now seems to be the essence of the Competency Based Curriculum, once implemented as envisaged.

That means aligning the education system with the paradigms of the 21st Century. Did you know that the Ugandan education system was also re-aligned in the year 2020? They realized that they also needed to be aligned with the 21st Century Paradigms, So, our country is on track, isn’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

3. 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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As the Competency Based Curriculum – CBC continues becoming a reality, let us continue sharing the experiences in the education system. A recent communication illustrated some interactions with a team of counseling psychologists, while presenting to parents of a leading girls’ school. On the same day, there was yet another experience that may be of interest to all educationists.

Penina if we can refer to her as such, a form 3 girl approached me accompanied by her father. The girl was carrying the 2nd edition of Career Dynamics in the 21st Century that she had earlier borrowed from their school Library.

Particularly, she needed to know the difference between the 2nd and 3rd editions of the concept. My concern however was whether Penina had read the publication, before addressing her issues. She indicated that she was already on chapter 6. Upon explanations, the father acquired a copy of the 3rd edition for the home library and left the school.

But soon after, Penina paid yet another visit. She needed to know how she can solve her academic challenges. “I don’t struggle in sciences, but I am finding it hard to cope with some subjects associated with humanities,” she revealed.

That confidence of Penina seeking guidance from the author of a publication she was reading, was quite impressive. It led to the girl acquiring advice on not only what she needs to do, but also the case study reference, specifically from the third edition of the publication, which the father had taken home.

Apparently, those challenges of being unable to cope with some areas of study are commonly experienced by students of the 8-4-4 system. Most teachers will guide students towards WORKING HARD on any challenges associated with the weaknesses of the curriculum.

Our approach is somehow different and supported by research based knowledge. Through our publications and seminars too, we help students in understanding how to WORK SMART aiming to conquer those curriculum challenges.

Ideally, insisting on students pursuing subjects related to their weaknesses is as good as conditioning their sensory system. Some end up losing strategic direction throughout their lives. That is what leads to job disatisfaction. It also leads to challenged performance and eventual mediocrity.

The good news is that these are some of the challenges being addressed by the CBC if implemented as envisaged. Some of the ideas picked were meant to solve the 8-4-4 curriculum challenges. How well institutions are guiding their 8-4-4 students on how to overcome those curriculum challenges should be of great concern to every educationist, isn’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

3. 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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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

3. 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

Welcome to our YouTube Channel under Mwangi Wanjumbi – Empowerment Forum

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Just this month of July, we conducted our seminar titled “Creating the Future Today” for the Form 4 Class of a reknown girls’ high school, with a student population of about 2500, based in Kiambu County. Seemingly, the feedback from the girls was quite impressive. That is the only way we can explain the subsequent invites to the same school.

In the last week of July, we were informed that there were meetings for parents of all the classes and it was necessary to talk to them. The parents needed to understand how their children are being aligned with the paradigms of the 21st Century.

We complied with request and have so far made presentations to parents of the Form 1, 2 and 3 classes. We have not only made them understand the challenges experienced by students of the 8-4-4 system, but also how the same have been addressed through the Competency Based Curriculum.

Based on feedback from numerous parents, they are totally in agreement with the excellence regarding the philosophy of the CBC. However, they are quite concerned about the implementation challenges associated with this curriculum. Nevertheless, they are hopeful that the challenges will be sorted out in good time, aiming to ensure that the desired objectives are met.

Meanwhile, some experiences during the meetings were quite exciting. After making presentions on one of the days, I was personally approached by a team of counseling psychologists, who were also part of the facilitation team. I enquired whether they had any issue.

The immediate response was that they were surprised that my presentation had summarized their content, as they waited for their turn.
“But, I am not a counseling psychologist and we have never met before,” I responded.
“Anyway, we need to learn from you some more details on the causes of some of the challenges experienced by the students of the 8-4+4 system,” the psychologists revealed.
“There is no problem on that. Since, you have my contacts, we can arrange for an opportunity in due course,” I responded.

All the same, it is best for every educationist to know that most often, counseling psychologists are invited or consulted to sort out challenges associated with unusual behavior or various levels of indiscipline. Conversly, our empowerment strategy is largely aimed at addressing the likely causes of poor attitudes, challenged focus as well as poor learning culture, all of which lead to indiscipline and poor performance.

This naturally explains why the counseling psychologists were attracted to our approach. Could this approach naturally lead to reduced need for their services? Your view is as good as mine.

The good news however is that we are not in competition. It is just a matter of contributing towards the improvement of the welfare of humanity based on expertise borrowed from different fields, isn’t it?

FYI

Does your institution experience students’ challenges in;-
-Attitudes?
-Learning Culture?

• Focus (Strategic direction)?
  Are you aware that the same lead to indiscipline and mediocre performance?

Improving the three attributes at once, through our seminar titled ” Creating the Future Today,” will easily lead to reduced indiscipline levels and naturally improved performance, as has been experienced by numerous schools spread in 12 counties, so far. This will also save students from experiencimg the eventual unemployment after school, which is now in the range of more than 60% of school graduates.

The most critical benefit is that the majority will align themselves with their likely purpose in life. This will lead to producing quality graduates from the school system. It doesn’t matter whether one is an A or D student. WELCOME for more!!!

Meanwhile, Teachers have their own empowerment challenges, don’t they? Luckily, we have been addressing the same over the years, upon invites by numerous schools spread around different counties, in this country. Your school is also WELCOME.

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

3. 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

Welcome to our YouTube Channel under Mwangi Wanjumbi – Empowerment Forum

Latest You Tube Upload
https://youtu.be/IAa2DTzjMZ0

Through side chatting, a number of enquiries have been made regarding revelations on exactly how leadership works effectively and efficiently. The communication this week therefore was meant to be on how leadership works in institutions and other social set-ups, as clearly illustrated in chapter 8 of the concept titled “Living Beyond Survival: No More Tiptoeing in Life.”

But, a two page article on the Competency Based Curriculum – CBC, appearing as a paid advert in the Daily Nation of Monday 17th July 2023 distracted this focus. The detailed write up by Prof. Barchok, the governor of Bomet County should be a must read for every educationist in Kenya. Why? The CBC has taken off and now on Grade 7, thus irreversible.

Nevertheless, one could not agree more with the professor that CBC was initiated in order to cure the weaknesses of the 8-4-4 school curriculum. This Curriculum was meant to be practical, but ended up becoming theoretical, thus unable to satisfy the main objective of equiping students with employable skills that would enable even school dropouts, at all levels to be either self employed or able to secure employment in the informal sector.

Coincidentally, the last communication in this forum had focused on how the 8-4-4 system had killed the blue collar job empowerment pathway, whose ideas were aligned with the assertions of the professor. What does this actually imply? Had the weaknesses of the 8-4-4 education curriculum been carefully thought through, the CBC, may actually have been unnecessary.

Instead, it could have been easier to embrace a continuous improvement improvement process and still achieve the desired improvements (refer to https://youtu.be/5vIR69v50Ss on transformation of the education system). These 8-4-4 system weaknesses are precisely the issues that gave rise to the publication of the KICD approved concept titled “Career Dynamics in the 21st Century.”

Imperatively, implementation of the CBC involves 3 perspecives. Emphasis by policy makers has largely been on the infrastructure and technicalities of the CBC. Not so much is ever discussed or revealed about the philosophy of the CBC. Could it be that this philosophy is not known? Your guess can only be as good as mine.

Probably, this situation is what has led majority of educationists to continue having lukewarm support or understanding of the transformation of the education system. The good news however, based on feedback from those who have read Career Dynamics in the 21st Century or embraced our seminars for teachers, have come to terms with the Philosophy of CBC.

Most importantly, they are able to understand the whys, hows etc that led to the transformation of the education system becoming inevitable. As the Professor indicates through his article, determinants of quality education include the availability of qualified, motivated teachers and other education personel, conducive environment as well as access to requisite resources.

The assertion that the initial teacher education is not aligned with the new curriculum cannot be taken for granted. Remember that the thinking of the Kenyan teacher is still influenced by the paradigms of the 20th Century. How will that change without them being taken through a major shift of aligning with the 21st Century paradigms?

Keep in mind that only 10% of teachers became teachers by choice. Another 40-50% of teachers became passionate, while on the job. So, there’s a gigantic task of influencing the balance of the 40-50% of dispassionate teachers towards effectively and efficiently implementing the CBC. Why?

Successful and sustainable implemention of the CBC requires not only passionate, but also dedicated teachers. It is only then that the desired objectives of the CBC will be achieved, isn’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

3. 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

Welcome to our YouTube Channel under Mwangi Wanjumbi – Empowerment Forum

Latest You Tube Upload
https://youtu.be/IAa2DTzjMZ0