CBC Education System: This feature on the competency based curriculum that the government has been implementing was written and published by economic analyst Ephraim Njega:
The CBC system was rushed and done without proper planning and wide consultations necessary for something this serious. Many of us only heard of CBC when implementation was already underway.
Planning is being done as implementation goes on. Most of the stakeholders aren’t even aware of all its details. The details are being released in bits as if it is on a trial run.
So far I have not found anyone who can provide concrete answers on what the new system seeks to achieve which the current one can’t.
Some say it adds new subjects. Couldn’t that have been done under the old system with minimal disruption?
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Others praise it for heavy parental involvement. Where does that leave the children being raised by uneducated parents and grandparents?
Have the economic aspects of CBC been well thought out? We are being told that in 2023 we will have both students from CBC and 8-4-4 joining secondary school at the same time. Has the necessary infrastructure been planned for?
We are told that national exam will only contribute 40% with 60% coming from continuous assessment. What measures are there to ensure that this continuous assessment isn’t bogged down with integrity issues?
If cheating can happen in national exams how genuine will be the results from this continuous assessment?
What research informed the need for a new system? Why were the necessary policy steps such as involvement of parliament ignored?
During Jubilee’s regime there has been a lot of unnecessary disruptions of the economy by overhauling things without any justification. A good example is the Huduma numbers fiasco and the currency demonetization.
All this reckless experimentation will have lasting adverse consequences. The country has been turned into a laboratory where vendors have a field day selling new systems for their own benefits.
Our problem is not the education system but lack of career and economic opportunities. Without work to be done the education system one pursued will be irrelevant.
Even for professionals will there be a difference between an 8-4-4 accountant or doctor and a CBC accountant or doctor? Will CBC produce superior engineers?
The idea that a pupil the equivalent of standard eight can choose a career path is laughable. Such a thing can only be possible in a country with numerous job opportunities.
Our 8-4-4 graduates have excelled in every corner of the world. Would this be possible if this was a deeply flawed system?
These graduates excel in those countries because they have opportunities to thrive. Our 8-4-4 graduates are wasting away locally because of a collapsing economy.
Many of us have worked in many countries. I have never encountered any situation where my competence was called into question.
Even if a new education system was needed, the incompetent Jubilee regime should be nowhere near such a delicate and sensitive process.
Who can clarify the following issues about CBC?
- Is this so called Junior Secondary real transition to secondary schools as with the 8-4-4 system or it is just a glorified continuation of primary school?
- If Junior school amounts to real transition to real secondary schools where is the infrastructure to accommodate 6 groups of students in secondary schools?
- Which teachers will be teaching this Junior Secondary? Is it the current primary school teachers or current secondary school teachers?
- If the junior secondary will be taught by current secondary school teachers where will the extra teachers in secondary school come from?
- If more secondary school teachers are to be hired for this Junior Secondary school where will the money come from? The current budget for TSC is almost KShs 300 billion. Can we afford more money for TSC? Will this involve mass layoff of primary school teachers as primary school will only have 6 year groups as opposed to the current 8?
- If junior secondary involves real transition to real secondary school aren’t the 12 year olds too young for that?