President Uhuru Kenyatta has said that given the manifest successes achieved by the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) in a short period of time, there is no turning back.
Speaking during the 59th Madaraka Day State address celebrations at Uhuru Gardens Wednesday, the head of state noted that with time, the 8-4-4 curriculum became inconsistent particularly because of its overloaded curriculum and its focus on rote learning and the passing of examinations as the ultimate goal of the system.
“At independence, our Founding Fathers embarked on a mission of course-correction to transition from a colonial education system that prepared learners for servitude to one that gave them the tools to lead a newly independent Nation. In 1985, we made yet another monumental shift by transitioning from the 7-4-2-3 system into the 8-4-4 system. As we begun re-engineering it, we had to return to the foundational philosophy of education that: ‘citizens do not fail – systems fail them’. And if the systems are inconsistent with the aspirations of the people, they must be changed, ” said Uhuru.
He called challenged Kenyans to imagine a system that creates responsible citizens as opposed to subjects.
“The challenge of the day calls us to imagine a system that creates responsible citizens as opposed to subjects, a system that celebrates the creative potential of all our children as opposed to one that leaves them with labels of failure, if they do not pass exams. A system that brings about freedom to be creative and innovative as individuals. This is the promise of the Competency Based Curriculum and that is why in December 2022, the pioneer CBC Class, now in its sixth grade, will transition to Junior Secondary,” added Uhuru.
Uhuru said his administration has also secured 100% transition from Primary to Secondary education and also achieved Africa’s first 1:1 child to book ratio restoring the integrity of Kenya’s national examinations.
In regard to higher education, he said the universities will continue to incubate innovations.
“Talents continue to be nurtured and a workforce that is globally competitive is with each passing year, transitioning from our institutions of higher learning into prominent positions locally and abroad. To ensure that even those that are not admitted in Universities get an equal chance, we have transformed our Technical and Vocational Education Training. Where there stood only 52 institutions in 2013, today we are home to 238 institutes, representing a 435% growth. With this transformation, every Kenyan child has a chance,” he said.
On matters security, the head of state said his administration has been able to silence he wave of terror attacks that had a strangle hold in Kenya by retooling the security organs and making them more capable to address the dynamic contemporary security challenges that Kenya faces.
“National Security and Defence has been a priority area since 2013, because we cannot deliver on the National Anthem’s promise of plenty within our borders, if those borders were porous and insecure. I, therefore, made your security a top priority because I know that without a secure environment no life can flourish, and no enterprise can thrive,” noted the head of state.
In healthcare, he said the govt has moved closer to the realization of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
As part of this transformation, he said the govt registered a 400% growth in the number of Kenyans insured under NHIF noting that there are 17.1 Million Kenyans insured compared to 4.4 Million insured as at April, 2013.
To enhance access to healthcare, he said the govt constructed an additional 1,912 healthcare facilities across all levels of care countrywide; representing a 43% increase in the total number of public health facilities in the country.
The facilities range from the recently commissioned modern state-of-the-art Level 6 Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital to health centers and dispensaries at the village level.
In the same time period, he said they increased the ICU capacity by an impressive 502%, from 108 to 651 ICU ready beds noting that as a country, the bed capacity has also increased by 47% from 56,069 in 2013 to 82,291 hospital beds.
“Additionally, through NMS, we built 29 new hospitals in the informal settlements in 100 days. In fact, we just opened a level five hospital in the settlements, popularly known as “Korogocho”, ” said the president.
He noted that although they govt has increased affordable access to healthcare, the lingering question is how the fragile facilities will be affected by elections.
Read his full speech here.
