During the August 9, presidential campaigns, the then UDA presidential candidate William Ruto promised to do away with the competency-based curriculum (CBC) if he wins the August 9 polls.
However, after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) declared William Ruto the fifth president-elect, he made a major turnabout on an earlier pledge to abolish CBC.
The Head of State instead acknowledged that the CBC is good but said his government would review the curriculum to incorporate public input.
This was after a team that worked on the proposals for the education sector also advised the president against abolishing the CBC saying it would be costly to both the parents and the government.
As such, the First in Command on Friday, September 30, appointed a 49-member team to spearhead CBC reforms.
The team will be led by former President Ruto’s principal at the Chiromo campus Raphael Munavu.
The team comprises seven secretaries, Vice-chancellors, Gitahi Kiama, Paul Wainaina, and former private school heads Mutheu Kasanga among others.
“The secretaries are KNEC CEO David Njengere, Elyas Abdi, Eunice Gachoka, Jackson Too, Richard Miano, Reuben Nthamburi, and Patita Tingoi,” the notice reads in part.
Parents in low-income brackets have over the recent past decried the “numerous hidden costs” of keeping their children in school under an education system that emphasizes practical skills rather than theory.
Aside from spending extra on books, learning materials, and printing, they have wondered if the assignments that learners come home with are meant to tie them down as a punishment.
Kenya National Association of Parents (Knap) Chairman Nicholas Maiyo said that although they support the new curriculum, the ministry should rein in and simplify the new education system.
Maiyo said the cost of implementing the system will not be within the reach of many parents in rural and informal settlements in urban areas.
