We are implementing CBC to keep our jobs, teachers tell Magoha

Some teachers in Homa Bay County have said they are only implementing the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) to keep their jobs.

The teachers who spoke to The Standard claimed that the new curriculum is "heading nowhere, and those who say its implementation is successful are education officials who are out of touch with the reality."

According to the teachers, they are only implementing the CBC because they are afraid of being sacked by the Teachers Service Commission.

They said they were coerced by Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha to implement the new curriculum, "yet they lack capacity."

They identified lack of training to effectively implement the new curriculum as a key shortcoming.

“Even those who were training us lacked mastery of the curriculum. At times when we were asking questions, they would tell us to take things the way they were presented because they also did not know,” said a teacher.

Kenya National Union of Teachers Homa Bay Secretary Patrick Were said the CBC "has no future."

"Education officials who sit in offices say CBC implementation is taking place smoothly. But the truth of the matter is that things are different on the ground. CBC has failed in schools,” Mr Were said.

Were, who is also the head teacher of Gendia Primary School, cited lack of resources in schools and the high teacher-to-pupil ratio as some of the challenges facing CBC.

"What the government needs to know is that this curriculum requires a teacher to attend closely to a pupil. But the teacher-pupil ratio of 1:90 is defective.

"It is a fact that teachers are implementing the curriculum to protect our payslips. But they are not doing it for the academic development of children of this country,” said Were.

He added: "What the government should do is to improve the old curriculum. This will enhance the quality of education."