Education News Today 2021: How CBC will create a Crisis in schools

Education News Today: How CBC will create a Crisis in schools

Latest Education News: School Heads caution Magoha on the Manner in Which the New Competency Based Curriculum is Being Implemented

The New Competency Based Curriculum which was rolled out in Kenya two years ago has ushered in an era where confusion reigns supreme in the country’s education sector.

For two years now, teachers have been undergoing continuous training in preparation for the full implementation of the Competence-Based Curriculum in Kenya.

Things have however taken a different turn now following shocking revelations from school heads published in the Daily Nation recently.

According to the report, headteachers have cautioned Education CS George Magoha over failure to release crucial details touching on the new talent based Competency-Based-Curriculum (CBC) ahead of its full roll out.

The school heads accused CS Magoha of failure to publicize  the CBC Implementation report details elaborating how CBC should be effectively implemented.

According to the heads, keeping the report away from education experts risks schools falling into a crisis.

Magoha’s ministry only released a summary of the report dubbed Enhancing Access Relevance Transition, Equity and Quality for Effective Curriculum Reforms Implementation which detailed the changes in the education sector.

However, in-depth details of the proposals made by the selected CBC task force remain scanty.

As much as the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) has developed curriculum content and learning materials essential for the CBC, Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) was criticised for not releasing an assessment framework.

KNEC was further castigated for conducting assessment tests in schools without the much-needed framework.

School heads warned that the confusion reportedly being created by the CBC implementation puts teachers at a crossroads as they aren’t aware of policies and guidelines to follow in executing the new curriculum.

They added that they were also not prepared for the new curriculum for they were racing against time to switch from the old 8-4-4 to the new 2-6-3-3-3 system.

Among the challenges they face is lack of infrastructure, training and congestion in schools with double-intake in the looming.

“There’s an increase of students across the board, even last year (2020), we were allocated more students than our capacity.

“We have not increased the capacity of secondary schools in tandem with the learners leaving Class 8,” Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (KESSHA) Chairman Kahi Indimuli lamented.

Ministry officials were reported to have camped in Machakos County to formulate a report on how the CBC will be funded and policies that will guide teachers.

However, they complained that they are also working in the dark as they don’t have access to the CBC task force report.

“We don’t know why the CS (Magoha) doesn’t want to release the report,” a senior official told Nation.