Let task force end all hitches in new system

The task force launched last week to review and redefine the Competency-Based Curriculum carries the hopes and expectations of the Kenyan public.

It is expected to clarify gray areas in the implementation of the system.

Since it was rolled out at the beginning of the year, the CBC has attracted criticism from teachers’ unions and the public at large because of ambiguities in regard to examinations, transition and competence of teachers to handle it. Yet, the curriculum represents the much-required shift from the 8-4-4 system and has the potential to fundamentally transform the country’s education.

On paper, the system is impressive and ideal, promising to end over-reliance on summative exams in determining who proceeds to the next level of education and focusing on individual talents and interests as opposed to academic work only.

Yet, six months into the roll-out, the Education ministry has not explained how learners will be examined to pave the way for transition.

Top ministry officials recently stated that Grade Three pupils will be assessed to determine if they have understood what is being taught but they will not be ranked. But then, they do not say what will happen to pupils deemed to have performed poorly.

Still, it is not clear if the pupils will sit an exam at Grade Six to determine their suitability for junior high school. This is especially poignant because the pupils will only be 11 years old and completely unfamiliar with tightly controlled national exams.

Besides, the idea of exams seems to negate one of the curriculum’s single-most remarkable element: Relegation of summative tests to irrelevance.

The task force, made up of educationists and other academics, will also have to figure out where Grades Seven, Eight and Nine will be placed in the new scheme of things. Will they be in the primary or secondary segment?

This is a crucial issue because whatever decision is made will impact on infrastructure, school management and distribution of teachers.

Concurrent with that is how to ensure that majority of the close to half a million teachers in both public and private schools are fully trained on the system and that all the teaching and learning materials are provided.

We are optimistic that the task force will skilfully navigate these issues and provide the way forward to an expectant nation.

However, the team does not have the luxury of time because the curriculum is already on a roll.

The experts must rise to the occasion, hit the ground running and provide workable solutions to these hitches. Only then will the public and teachers, especially, buy into the idea of the new curriculum.