On Tuesday, President Uhuru Kenyatta launched a report on the 2-6-3-3-3 system of education. The report, compiled by the Task Force on Implementation of Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) set up in 2019, marked the culmination of a long process that has been characterised by controversy and confusion.
It has not been an easy journey, and along the way, the government at times seemed ill-prepared to undertake the task. In 2018, for example, the then Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed admitted to poor preparation on the roll-out of CBC before a Senate committee, and called for its postponement.
However, with the comprehensive CBC report now in the public domain, all that is water under the bridge. We must set our sights on targets and endeavour to accomplish set goals within set timelines.
The task ahead is gargantuan, especially considering that huge amounts of money and commitment from the government will be required to make the whole process a success.
Indeed, the government deserves a pat on the back for coming up with a good roadmap that clears existing doubts on the practicality of the CBC, which, unlike the teacher-centred 8-4-4 system, is learner-centred and adaptive to the changing needs of students, tutors and the larger society.
The need to invest in infrastructural development cannot be gainsaid. Domiciling junior secondary school in secondary schools, for instance, puts emphasis on the urgent need to expand classrooms, dormitories and to purchase desks to cater for the large number of learners at this level.
At the moment, most secondary schools are crowded due to the 100 per cent transition from primary to secondary school. This calls for building new classrooms to accommodate the new batch of students. Time is of the essence as they are expected to join junior secondary in the next two years.
Besides other factors, the success of CBC will also depend on the quality of teachers trained for that purpose. By 2019, about 100,000 teachers had been trained, but there is need to train even more on CBC.
All this will need money, a lot of money. Unfortunately, the country's economic difficulties have been compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, we must find ways to ensure that this noble project is implemented without unnecessary hiccups.
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