Reduced CBC Subjects in Primary and Secondary Levels by KICD

President William Ruto unveiled an ambitious plan on Tuesday (August 1, 2023) that contains a number of recommendations aimed at completely reforming the educational system from the pre-primary to the tertiary levels as the 8-4-4 shift gains momentum.

At State House in Nairobi, Dr. Ruto was presented with the report from the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform (PWPER). The study, which, if fully adopted, will profoundly change the entire educational system, garnered praise from the president.

He said, “I’ll be in charge of the group that makes sure the recommendations are implemented for the benefit of kids and society.”

In order to gather feedback from the public, the PWPER, who was appointed at the end of September of last year, traveled the country. Dr. Ruto extended it until June 9, 2023 because it had not completed the mission when its mandate expired at the end of March.

According to Dr. Ruto, there is no longer instability in the country because we have dealt with all of our concerns about what would happen to our children.

Prof. Raphael Munavu served as the PWPER’s chair, and now that the process is over, focus is shifting to putting the recommendations into action.

The text’s suggested legislation will require action from Parliament.

The team’s recommendation to fewer topic groups will result in less work for students in elementary and junior secondary schools.

According to the report, “Stakeholders raised concerns about the high number of subject areas in primary and junior secondary schools; curriculum overload and overlap; the high cost of updating the CBC passed on to parents; internet and electricity connectivity challenges that have a negative impact on digital literacy; and low levels of literacy and numeracy for basic learning.”

Accordingly, PWPER recommends that the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) reduce the number of learning areas for grades one through three from nine to seven, for grades four through six from twelve to eight, and for grades seven through nine from fourteen to nine.

Five learning areas will be available to preschoolers, compared to seven for junior high school students (grades seven through twelve).

Pre-primary, primary, and junior secondary education are all provided on one campus in a comprehensive school that is operated as a single entity. The current Junior Secondary and Senior Secondary will stop using the word “secondary.”

In order to address the intense competition for spots in secondary schools, the report suggests doing away with the classification of schools as national, extra-county, county, or sub-county and reclassifying them as day, boarding, mixed (day/boarding), and mixed (boys/girls), as well as according to the pathways they will offer at senior secondary level.

In an effort to incorporate community service learning, a fundamental component of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), the research offers a curriculum modeled after the National Youth Service pre-university plan that failed in the 1980s.

Introduce a three-month mandatory community service program for seniors entering tertiary institutions and a nine-month mandatory community service obligation after graduating tertiary education. The study suggests awarding a certificate of successful completion of community service prior to allowing someone to enter the workforce.

It continues by urging the Ministry of Education (MOE) to develop a framework for a dress code policy for all academic levels.

In response to stakeholder concerns over teacher credentials for the implementation of the CBC, the report recommends that the MoE develop rules mandating a one-year retooling and upgrading course for all teachers who graduated before 2023.

In essence, this relates to both employed and unemployed educators.

The MoE and sector stakeholders must prioritize retooling instructors in accordance with the new CBC criteria and the learning/subject areas, according to the document, given the CBC’s slow implementation.

The MoE has taken over the responsibility for teacher training from the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), significantly reducing the TSC’s authority.

Universities are also encouraged to develop one-year retraining programs for instructors to prepare them for competency-based teacher education courses.

The PWPER has also argued for more funding for higher education. The capitation award for primary schools would almost triple from Sh1,420 to Sh2,238 yearly, while pre-primary education, which was not previously subsidized, will now receive Sh1,170 per student annually.

Senior high school students will receive Sh22,527 every year. The capitation has remained at Sh22,244 since 2018 and is now. Secondary school principals have advocated for an increase of Sh30,000.

A minimal essential package should also be implemented to support schools whose enrolment is below the desired level. Primary education should cost Sh537,120, junior and senior high school should cost Sh2.03 million and Sh3.04 million, respectively, while special education should cost Sh1.89 million. Pre-primary education should cost Sh70,200.

KICD Will Scale Back CBC Subjects in Primary and Secondary Education

The PWPER recommends abolishing the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, which has been operating since 1968, and replacing it with the Kenya Basic Education Bursaries and Scholarship Council.

Coordination of the distribution of scholarships and bursaries will be its duty.

Scholarship and bursary sources are many, dispersed, and poorly organized, and there are no clear criteria for choosing beneficiaries. The majority of them, according to the report, are characterized by corruption, nepotism, and tribalism, with ungrateful, well-connected people earning more than the worthy.

Scholarships and bursaries can be obtained from a variety of organizations, including the Ministry of Education (MoE), the National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG- CDF), county governments, banks and foundations, NGOs, faith-based organizations, and kind individuals.

For the benefit of the new organization, a comprehensive database of all scholarships and bursaries will be made available.

It would be unlawful to grant scholarships and bursaries from two different sources and to return unused funds to recipients.

With the assistance of religious leaders, principals, and elected officials, poor pupils are to be identified in schools, districts, sub-districts, and counties. The council will be established as a partially autonomous government organization within the [State Department of Basic Education], according to the report.

In order to inform enrolment in school and for capitation purposes, stakeholders suggested that learners should be tracked starting at birth, according to the report. It advocates giving each child a unique identifying number at birth and keeping it up throughout their education. This should be completed within a year.

A matrix outlining each action point’s timetable and the ministry or organization in charge of it is included in the study.

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