CBC Curriculum Training: The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) has refused to join hands with the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) in the boycott of the on-going training of teachers for the new curriculum.
The body which represents teachers in the secondary school cadre said that it was critical for teachers to be trained on the programme.
Kuppet Deputy Secretary-General Moses Nturima said that teachers should not be stopped from attending the training since learning is a lifelong process.
“We need a curriculum that will give our children competence-based knowledge so that the problem of joblessness is dealt with once and for all. In countries like China and Finland, where competence-based curricula were embraced long ago, children’s abilities are identified early, and development is tangible,” said Mr. Nturima.
Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Secretary-General Wilson Sossion has earlier on asked for teachers to boycott the exercise. Mr. Sossion said that the competency based curriculum (CBC) reform exercise and the implementation process were conducted in violation of the law.
“The law requires an exercise of such a magnitude to have guidelines and a gazetted commission to anchor the entire process,” he said in a press statement. “Besides, the due process of reforming the content of the curriculum was never followed to the letter, hence making the entire exercise illegal.”
The CBC Curriculum Training, which began on Tuesday and ends on Friday, involves more than 91,000 teachers countrywide and is being conducted in 1,191 zones. a total of 68,490 teachers in lower primary schools and 22,830 head teachers are being trained.
Teachers undergoing the training are required to acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for effective implementation of CBC; apply innovative pedagogical approaches and models, demonstrate competencies in assessment and be self-reflective, self-improving and supportive of learners.
According to the Early Years Education Curriculum Facilitator’s Training Manual prepared by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, which is being used in the training, there are seven core competencies that basic learners should acquire: communication and collaboration, critical thinking and problem solving, creativity and imagination, citizenship, digital literacy, learning to learn, and self-efficacy. The teachers are also being taught to integrate ICT into learning.