Universities across the country have been directed to urgently adjust their courses to align with the government's rollout of the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC).
Speaking to the press on Saturday, August 7, Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) Director Charles Ochieng' Ong'ondo asked Universities to begin the re-organisation process as quickly as possible.
He explained that since the first CBC class is in Grade 5, they will be joining junior high school in 2023 and will need competent teachers to teach them when the time comes.
He also noted that the batch will be ready to join universities in 2029 and the institutions must be prepared to handle their dynamic academic needs as opposed to those of the current 8-4-4 system.
"There are two aspects of preparation universities need to make. As these learners get to junior and senior secondary, they will require graduate teachers. These teachers are produced by universities so they need to urgently re-organise their programmes to be CBC compliant.
"They need to prepare to receive the learners in 2029. It is projected that 60 per cent of leavers of senior secondary should be going to do STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) 25 per cent to the social sciences and humanities. 15 per cent to go and do sports and performing arts," stated Ong'ondo.
Among the new programmes introduced by CBC include an emphasis on sports, music and arts among others.
"Universities are currently operating in the opposite direction because most of the students go to do social sciences then very little like 10 percent go to do STEM. Some universities do not sports and performing arts programmes," he added.
He further noted that most universities are still working on lecture mode which is not in line with the CBC. He directed that universities should start re-orienting their lecturers into the new approaches.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, Professor Alfred Omenya, a former lecturer at the University of Nairobi (UoN) and Technical University of Kenya (TUK) disclosed that several tertiary facilities create controversial degrees that disadvantage graduates seeking job opportunities.
He explained that some universities created courses that are unknown in the job market hence making it difficult for graduates to secure employment.
CBC curriculum was developed by KICD aimed at correcting the wrongs in the education sector by developing skills for learners which they can use to solve life problems.
