Parents petition MPs to stop CBC roll-out
Former Knut Secretary-General Wilson Sossion.
A section of parents have petitioned the national assembly to scrap the implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) and revert to the 8-4-4 system.
The petition, read by nominated MP and former Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) secretary-general Wilson Sossion, also seeks to have State officers who have been championing the implementation of the curriculum prosecuted for messing up the education system.
According to the petitioners, Section 41 of the Basic Education Act recognises the 8-4-4 system and the law has not been amended, rendering the CBC illegal.
The petitioners also argue that the curriculum was poorly planned and hastily introduced in schools without taking into consideration the country’s resource constraints. Mr Sossion added that it was rolled out without adequate data, such as number of schools and teachers in the country as the curriculum process was hijacked by technocrats and foreign consultants at the expense of practitioners.
He added that recent studies have shown that Kenyan schools are unprepared to implement the CBC system.
Due to the hurried roll-out, the petitioners said, a majority of teachers were not sufficiently trained on the CBC content and teaching methods. Further, parents have not been involved in the reform process through public awareness campaigns.
“There has been poor alignment between CBC formulation, teacher capacity development, selection and supply of learning materials and assessment, which has led to poor implementation and unavailability of relevant CBC materials,” the petition notes.
National Assembly Majority Leader Amos Kimunya opposed the petition.
“These people who are challenging this system need to know that their children who have gone through five years of a new education system. I don’t know what the intent is, should it now be reversed and the learners go back to Standard One in the 8-4-4 system?” he asked.
However, Speaker Justine Muturi halted the petition noting that there is already a pending case on the CBC implementation in court filed by Kenya Law Society President Nelson Havi a week ago
The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development has been conducting stakeholders’ engagement on the CBC roll out in the recent past.
