Teachers in public schools not ready for new curriculum, says Knut

Teachers and the Education ministry were on Tuesday pulling in different directions on the progress of implementation of the new curriculum which started in January.

Whereas former Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed praised the exercise, Kenya National of Union of Teachers (Knut) released a report which indicated that the rollout had failed due to lack of proper training of teachers.

As Ms Mohamed and her principal secretaries Collette Suda (University Education) and Bellio Kipsang (Basic Education) were briefing the National Assembly’s Education committee on the progress of the review at Panafric Hotel in Nairobi, Mr Sossion, who is a member of the committee, was at Knut headquarters releasing his report.

TRAINING

Ms Mohamed assured the committee that their input and that of other stakeholders would be considered in the sessional paper that is set to be tabled in Parliament.

MPs poked holes in the document saying not much had been done to it. For example, lack of costing for the new curriculum, failure to be clear on transition from one level to another and failure by the ministry to address the role of Commission for University Education (CUE) in the policy.

Committee vice chairman Amos Kimunya (Kipipiri MP) regretted that the sessional paper was being presented to MPs months after the rollout.

“With this policy, I know we are playing catch up, as the rollout has already started, but we will do our best to enrich it,” he said.

PREPARATION

At Knut headquarters, Mr Sossion insisted that research had concluded that implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum was hurriedly done before majority of teachers were trained on its contents and learning materials.

“The data suggested that inadequate training of teachers will hinder most of them from obtaining a solid base of essential knowledge of CBC,” he said.

The research also concluded that most pre-primary, Grades one, two and three teachers had not been trained on CBC, and the few that attended training were not adequately trained.

“Teachers are generally negative about CBC implementation and trainings,” Mr Sossion said.

He added that the implementation of the curriculum is faced with untold hiccups, among them lack of teachers who have adequate knowledge, skills on CBC and teaching approaches.

CHALLENGES

Others are lack of adequate approved textbooks for teachers and learners and lack of teachers instructional materials on CBC.

“Trainers, facilitators and teachers are still incompetent in the delivery of the competence-based approach to teaching and learning,” Mr Sossion said.

He added that the adequate and relevant instructional materials which were to help teachers with in-depth understanding of the new curriculum were not delivered to teachers in time before the launch of the system.

Dr Kipsang told the committee that curriculum design for Grade five to nine will be ready by the end of the year, while by June next year the design for Grade 10 to 12 will be ready.