CBC promotes business skills in the learners

Life is about change. Sometimes it’s painful, sometimes beautiful. But most of the time, it’s both. The Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), under the 2-6-3-3 system, was unveiled in 2017 to replace the 8-4-4 system of education, which has served Kenya for 32 years.

CBC was received with mixed reactions. Those who praised it said the 2-6-3-3 system allows us to reflect on the end of an era of lopsided ranking and cutthroat competition in education. The anxiety that parents experienced was devastating to the extent that parents engaged in cheating—such as taking their children to academies but registering them for Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations in rural public schools to secure national school places.

Notably, CBC is where learning is based on the needs and potential of individual learners under a flexible framework and parameters that move and shift according to their demands. It promotes hands-on training and infuses acquisition of new knowledge through observation, learning as you do, experiential learning and practical experimenting to become better.

CBC holds a crucial aspect of life: Entrepreneurship. First, it enables children to explore the unlimited opportunities—contrary to 8-4-4, in which they would hardly discover their interest and end up partaking in careers that become a lifelong uphill task for them. Secondly, CBC is a key tool in making students open-minded to the new ideas around them. This is a key principle in entrepreneurship as it enables a person to figure out the best opportunity for the investment.

Thirdly, it promotes creativity, a vital tool for entrepreneurs in identifying new ideas, by providing opportunities like art supplies and musical instruments. Further, it is paramount in instilling hard work. This is a crucial aspect in any field of work. Children carry homework home.

Lastly, risk-taking allows them to explore and try new things, boosting their confidence. Failing is part of life but parents and teachers help them learn from their mistakes.