Build more classes for CBC implementation

A teacher shows nursery school children (PP1) how to bury banana peels and cover them to manufacture manure. There is concern that some teachers are suggesting wrong learning activities under Competency-Based Curriculum, thus unnecessarily burdening parents. [Gideon Maundu, Standard]

When Kenya initiated implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) in 2017, it was clear many changes were expected in teaching, learning and assessment of learners. In what is a major departure from the rote memorisation of the content of the 8-4-4 system, CBC aims at instilling core values and practical skills and competencies to ensure every learner seamlessly transitions from the school to the work environment.

The approach is learner-centred, allowing each individual learner to advance based on the ability to master specific skills in a criterion-referenced judgement. Some of the core competencies of the curriculum include communication and collaboration, critical thinking and problem solving, creativity and imagination as well as digital literacy.

Being a learner-centred curriculum, it means each learner is treated as an individual rather than just another one of the many learners in a class. Teachers are expected to identify and nurture talent in creativity and problem-solving. Skills such as communication need practising to perfect, and this requires a lot of focus on individual learners to help each hone his/her skills at their own pace.

However, with the current infrastructural and staffing inadequacies, it is impractical for a teacher to adequately guide each learner to achieve maximum potential at their own pace.

The introduction of free primary education presented a welcome opportunity for every child to access basic education, leading to high enrolment and transition rates in primary and secondary schools respectively. With class sizes of up to 70 learners in some schools, each lesson would need several hours to allow meaningful teacher-learner interaction. Besides, many schools still struggle with a lack of classrooms.

There is need to put more focus on improving infrastructure and employment of enough teachers to ensure that by the end of every learning cycle, each learner gets maximum attention and guidance to hone most, if not all core competencies. Without enough classrooms and teacher-learner interaction, many talented learners are likely to be lost in the crowd, much like in the now almost defunct 8-4-4. One of the core competencies of the CBC is digital literacy. CBC aims at equipping learners with skills to enable them to access and create digital information.

Digital literacy can also come in handy in growing the learners’ curiosity to learn, which is another of the core competencies of the curriculum. During the 8-4-4 system of education, subjects such as art and craft and home science were meant to help students develop creativity and practical life skills such as cooking and cleaning.

We learnt how to make table cloths and children’s bootees and how to polish shoes and make mosaic art. I do not know what pupils in urban schools learnt, but I remember our teacher asking us to make mole traps!  In the absence of digital technology, we only learnt how to make basic real-life items by hand. There was no technology to help talented learners take their drawings and other artistic expressions to the next level and in many cases, such learners’ potential ended when they transitioned to high school or when their journey ended, often due to lack of school fees.

Public schools

Digital literacy in the implementation of CBC should go beyond learning to read and count to enabling talented children explore ways of improving their skills and potentially monetising them. Future chefs can learn new recipes and cooking methods, talented artists can explore animation and everyone can leverage technology to share their skills and talents with the world and potentially make a career out of it. This might be way out of reach right now, especially in public schools where access to such technology is just but a dream.

However, with prioritisation and enough funding for the implementation of the CBC, digital literacy can be achieved. I hope that free laptops for schools will be on someone’s 2022 campaign manifesto and this time, every learner will actually access a digital device. This, coupled with the implementation of the last mile electricity and internet connectivity, will ensure learners acquire relevant digital skills in line with the vision of the CBC.

As learners get ready to resume learning, the pertinent and contemporary issues of global citizenship, health, life skills and values, as well as social and economic issues, can only be addressed when there is enough infrastructural and human resource capacity for schools to implement the CBC.

-Dr Kiambati is a Communications lecturer and trainer, Kenyatta University