By
Luseka Waliaula
The
meme read, handle me with Care, I am CBC Parent. The transition from the
8-4-4 system to the Competence Bases Curriculum (CBC) was taking shape bringing
with it so many changes. Changes that would affect the learners, teachers,
parents and other stakeholders. Discussions in the media and other social circles
would reference CBC learners and parents a lot.
Ciku who had become a CBC parent had
thought her daughter would do her KCPE exams at 14 then join High School at 15.
At 15, she would be old enough to stay in a boarding school away from home. She
would be able to be in charge of the little things
that come with being away from home like maintaining pocket money, washing her
own clothes and generally looking out for herself.
When the switch to CBC
was proposed, Ciku
just like many other CBC parents entered into a learning curve with her daughter.
One night they would be putting together balloons and
straws to make a model breathing system. On another night Ciku would be rushing
to the nearest bookshop to find manilla papers for school projects after
getting home from the long hours of traffic.
“This
CBC has really got us going back to school ourselves,” Ciku tells me when we
have a conversation on the changes in the education system
However,
that is late 2022 and her biggest worry is not the CBC homework. She is waying
options on which is the best high school for her daughter to join when she does
her grade six exams in 2023.She worries that at 12, her daughter would not be
old enough to take on the responsibilities of boarding. Concerns that other
parents and stakeholders in Kenya’s education system have kept raising.
Lydia,
a high school teacher in Eldoret also has concerns.
“I
am used to dealing with teenage learners, these little ones will bring in a
totally new experience,” she says
It
is February 2023 and Ciku and Lydia’s concerns seem to have been addressed
somehow. Junior secondary school is now part of primary school. The first cohort
joined grade seven on January 30 after doing their grade six national
examinations in 2022.The government made the change from having junior
secondary in High schools to having it as part of primary school. When addressing
journalists, president Ruto defended the government’s move citing various
reasons among them convenience and the facilitation of the 100% transition.
“To
provide for this 100% transition every primary school must have a secondary
school” said Ruto
The
president also spoke for the move making education cheap because it would
reduce movement.
Distance,
boarding school and moving to another level are not the only issues that stakeholders
in the education sector have to worry about though. There is the issue of number
of teachers needed to successfully achieve the objectives of the Curriculum.
There seems not be enough teachers employed by the Teachers’ Service Commission.
The number of subjects being taken by the students has doubled. The students
will be required to take 12 core subjects: English; Mathematics; Pre-technical
Studies; Kiswahili; Kenya Sign Language; Integrated Science; Social Studies; Business
Studies; Agriculture; Religious Education; Health Education; Sports and
Physical education and life skills. There will also be seven optional subjects
from which the learners will only select two. So, as much as the students will
not move from primary schools, things will not stay the same and simple.
Apparently, everything in this new system still requires to be handled with
care.
There
will be a need for more teachers trained to handle the new specializations. Infrastructure
needs to be examined on a whole new level in order to accommodate al the
learners. This will depend on the government releasing capacitation funds for the
construction of classrooms and other facilities like laboratories. We see how
this new system still requires as much care as it did before. There are so many
choices to be made, challenges to be overcome and opportunities to capitalize
on with each passing academic year.
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