Salvage education plan

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s apology to parents for the confusion over the launch of the new education system sets the stage for its implementation as schools reopen early next month. His intervention is a welcome development that tidies up the situation for Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed, who has in recent days been faulted for flip-flopping on this vital national undertaking.

First, Ms Mohamed had announced that the plan had been put off until 2020, a position she later retreated from, insisting that it would go ahead as planned. However, even as the President reiterates the objective of the new system, which is to equip the leaders with the skills for future life, there are serious shortcomings.

First, is the lack of a legal framework, as the Sessional Paper to underpin the new system has yet to be tabled in Parliament. Secondly, the counties, which are expected to play a pivotal role in it, say they lack the funds to do so. And thirdly, teachers have not been fully trained for the new system.

However, we appreciate where the President is coming from. Delay or failure to launch the system will be a major setback to his administration.

Four agencies will be under intense pressure as primary schools reopen for the first term next Thursday. They are the Teachers Service Commission, Kenya National Examinations Council, Kenya Institute for Curriculum Development (KICD) and the ministry of Education’s Quality Assurance and Standards agency.

The Competency-Based Curriculum to replace the much-criticised 33-year-old 8-4-4, is turning out to be one of President Kenyatta’s pet projects. But the teachers’ union, Knut, has opposed the “hurried” implementation of new curriculum.

For their part, educationists are warning that the lingering questions could return to haunt the project. It is important that all the stakeholders rally together to ease anxiety over the project among parents, guardians and teachers, to chart the way forward.