Date set for stakeholders to vote on new curriculum

The Ministry of Education will on January 30 present the proposed curriculum to stakeholders for review at a national conference in Nairobi.

This will be the culmination of almost a two-decade-long effort to reform the education system. Delegates will analyse and debate the Basic Education Curriculum Framework to be presented by Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i.

Yesterday, players in the education system welcomed the move, saying it had been in the works for too long. Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) Director Julius Jwan said all key players had been involved in the process that started in the 1990s.

“All the stakeholders have been invited to this important launch, which will be held at the KICC,” said Dr Jwan.

Among others, the new curriculum proposes to reduce primary education from eight to six years, divided equally into lower and upper primary. It seeks to abolish the current Standard Eight and Form Four national examinations and envisions a transition of pupils from primary to secondary school without examinations.

It will bring back the six-year secondary education, which was scrapped in 1985 as a pathway to university admission, replacing the current four years students spend in high school preparing for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination.

The examinations will be replaced by the Kenya Assessment Learners Achievement (KALA) and the Kenya Certificate of Basic Education (KCBE) at primary and secondary schools, respectively. Both exams will emphasise continuous assessment tests as opposed to final exams.

It is one of the boldest reform measures in the assault on the 8-4-4 system, which has been termed unresponsive to the changing needs of the 21st Century and criticised for its emphasis on end-term assessments.

New learning levels

The new curriculum structure will introduce new learning levels from pre-school to tertiary education matched with children’s ages.

Schools’ associations, teachers’ unions, religious organisations, the civil society and development partners and students leadership are scheduled to attend the launch.

Kenya Private Schools Association CEO Peter Ndoro said the process had been consultative.

“We appreciate the fact that the CS has engaged stakeholders in coming up with the reforms. Now we are looking at the competence of learners as opposed to academic results and we support the reforms as we have been part and parcel to the process,” Ndoro said.

Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) secretary general Akello Misori said they are looking forward to attending the launch and thereafter issue a comprehensive response to the proposed changes.

Ms Muthoni Ouko of Elimu Yetu said the new system was timely.

“The current system had so many flaws, which ended up leaving so many students behind. The new system seeks to give all learners an opportunity to be on board. There have been thorough consultations through the steering committee and we all welcome the changes,” Ouko said. Mr Shem Ndolo of the Kenya Primary Schools Heads Association said the new system stressed skills and talent development.

“Our children will enjoy schooling because this curriculum is not examination-oriented. We have seen kids drop out of school, but this will now come to an end. We are only asking for capacity-building for teachers to prepare them to implement it,” Ndolo said.

Meanwhile, Matiang’i has said he will continue fighting for reforms in the education sector, despite criticism by some politicians.

He said the deep-rooted corruption cases being experienced in Kenya today started with shortcuts Kenyans chose to take in the education system. Speaking at Mwongori Secondary School in Nyamira County on Friday, Dr Matiang’i said he is ready to undertake the same measures he took last year in the administration of national examinations both at primary and secondary schools.

“There is no shortcut in the progress we want to undertake in the Ministry of Education. We will no longer allow cheating in exams in Kenya. We need our children to grow up as responsible people,” he said.

The CS said children are the focus of the parents’ struggle, adding that there are no two ways in life.

Borabu MP Ben Momanyi defended Matiang’i against continued attacks over the manner the national examinations were handled.

“We have never heard such a hardworking and dedicated minister like the current Education CS,” Momanyi said.