Education Focus Magazine MarchApril Edition (2) compressed - Flipbook - Page 25
COVER STORY
Major bottlenecks in CBC rollout
BY PATRICK WAINAINA
In 2017, the Kenya Government introduced the
Competency Based Curriculum (CBC), a learnercentered approach focused on developing critical
thinking, creativity, and practical skills.
The CBC under the 2-6-3-3 system of education
replaced the 8-4-4 system of education which had
served Kenya for 32 years.
The introduction of 2-6-3-3 received a lot of
attention and provided an opportunity for Kenyans to
reflect on the end of an era in the education where
ranking and cut-throat completion had been at the
centre of the sector.
The anxiety that parents experienced in the past as
well as the candidates was devastating and affected
the country to the extent that parents engaged in
cheating such as taking their children to academies
but registering them for Kenya Certificate of Primary
Education exams in rural public schools in order to
secure national school places.
Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development CEO Prof Charles Ong’ondo
during a tree-planting exercise at Orero High School in Homa Bay County.
These pathways are:
1) Arts and sports science
There were cases where the Kenya National
2) Social sciences
Examination Council (KNEC) reported that over
3)
10,000 candidates 8missed9 exams when the truth
mathematics
of the matter was that those were candidates
A most recent challenge facing those who will
who made double registration in academies and
transition to senior school is whether mathematics
rural poor public schools in order to get selected
will be compulsory or not.
Science,
Technology,
Engineering
and
The outgoing Principal Secretary for Basic
to national schools.
The CBC rollout has met challenges such as
Education, Dr Belio Kipsang threw spanners into the
negative attitudes towards learners with learning
works when he pronounced that mathematics,
disabilities, poor teacher preparation, lack of
historically key subject in any curriculum, would be
resources and poor collaboration.
an optional in senior school.
This sparked a heated debate and reaction from
The CBC curriculum is now at Grade 9. This
across the country with parents complaining that
means that by next year, 2026 pupils will
this is the worst decision so far made by those
transition to Grade 10, senior school, where they
implementing the CBC.lise as mathematics is core to
will take the different pathways stipulated in the
any industrialisation envisaged by any country.
curriculum.
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