Why new curriculum rollout likely to face hitch

The rollout of the new curriculum scheduled for next year could face major hitches if the government does not urgently address the major hiccups facing the trial of the 2-6-3-3-3 syllabus.

A Nation survey found that many public and private schools are yet to receive the text books for Grade One and Two nearly halfway into the first term.

Most of the schools have now been forced to extract the right content from the 8-4-4 text books to impart knowledge to pupils in pre-primary to Grade Two.

Known as Competence Based Curriculum (CBC), the new system, which seeks to replace the current 8-4-4, focuses on skills instead of knowledge. Most schools are yet to see the books.

“The text books are yet to reach the bookstores in Kisumu. However, we have to make do with the old text books where we extract the relevant material,” said Mrs Elizabeth Mutua, Golden Elites school head teacher.

“It has been challenging getting the required text books for the classes which are being piloted and we are afraid that we might not achieve much in this kind of environment,” Ms Dorice Owiti, the deputy head teacher of Manna Academy in Seme sub county told the Nation.

LEARNING MATERIALS

In Mombasa, private schools in slums are yet to start offering the new CBC to learners due to lack of learning materials.

“We were not fully sensitised. It was rushed. Children from slums are suffering because their schools are yet to start offering the new curriculum,” Juma Kioko, a Kibarani slum parent lamented.

Meanwhile, alternative Providers for Basic Education and Training  secretary general Juma Lubambo said the new syllabus is expensive for schools.

“The government should provide the basic materials for private schools in the urban slums to provide quality education for all learners,” he insisted.

In Uasin Gishu, Little Lambs Academy Principal Gideon Mukosi, whose school was one of those picked for  pilot programme, welcomed the system.

CHALLENGES

“Any new system may face challenges at the beginning but in the long run it will boost competency among learners,” said Mr Mukosi.

In Nakuru, at least 2,000 teachers have been trained to handle the new curriculum.

“I am happy with the progress and I would like to report that so far there has been no hitch reported in all the 11 sub -counties,” said the county Director of Education Isaac Atebe.

KICD chief executive officer Dr Julius Jwan told Nation that there was no cause for  alarm over the proposed curriculum and assured teachers that the government was on the right track with regard to its implementation eventually.

 Reports by Ouma Wanzala, Winnie Atieno, Francis Mureithi, Wycliff Kipsang and Dennis Lubanga