African nations have been asked to collaborate to streamline a curriculum that is fit for the youth ready to confront the challenges of the 21st Century.
The call came at the end of a three-day African Curriculum Association Conference held at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) in Nairobi yesterday.
Participants drawn from academia and curriculum developers were unanimous on the need to harmonise curricula that would also enable easy exchange of human resources, even as the continent works around the Africa Free Continental Free Trade Area (Afcta).
Speaking at the closing ceremony, Basic Education PS Belio Kipsang lauded the concerted effort by participants to have an African curriculum that captures the competency of learners as much as it develops skills and scholarship.
"There is a need to strengthen the African Curriculum Association as a professional body for curriculum experts," he said.
Dr Kipsang noted that the conference marks a significant milestone in educational and curriculum development in Africa.
According to Dr Kipsang, holding the conference in Kenya has been monumental because Kenya is currently rolling out a new curriculum, which promises to be the most methodically implemented ever in Kenya.
He noted the need for the entrenchment of ICT in teaching and learning as well as the management of education.
This includes equipping learning institutions with ICT infrastructure and developing the capacity of managers, teachers and other stakeholders to appreciate digital literacy.
The PS urged African countries and educationists to develop curricula not just for knowledge but for other human capacity development.
"African countries should focus on designing curricula that develop learner competencies as opposed to memorisation," he said, adding that African must promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
KICD Executive Director Charles Ong'ondo said it was a great opportunity for Kenya to have hosted the conference, especially at a time the country was implementing a new curriculum.
He announced that papers presented at the conference will be published for future reference.
ACA Secretary General Gertrude Namubiru announced that the next conference will be held next year in Ivory Coast as the organisation strives to facilitate training programmes to promote joint research.
Some of the countries represented were Chad, Benin, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo Brazzaville, Gambia, Eswatini, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Niger and South Sudan.
The PS called on Africa not to forget the place of indigenous languages, indigenous knowledge and indigenous technologies warning that the euphemism from the term best practices must be cautiously adopted
He announced that the Presidential Working Party on Education has completed its work and is due to submit its report to President William Ruto.
