Education stakeholders on Wednesday, September 14, issued a fresh set of demands to President Wiliam Ruto following his directive on Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) implementation.
Speaking to the press, the leaders drawn from Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) as well as Private Schools Association urged the Head of State to review the charges of the curriculum passed on to parents.
KUPPET National Chairperson Omboko Milemba hinted that CBC rollout countrywide received a pushback from parents due to hidden costs brought about by the new curriculum.
Parents had complained that students under the new syllabus were constantly required to provide items such as rice and cooking equipment for endless experiments- further driving up the cost of living.
"Who pays the cost of education vis-à-vis what the Constitution says? It is like a hidden cost is being taken to the parents. The parents could be resisting because they are fearful of the hidden cost," questioned Milemba.
Akelo Misori, who serves as the Secretary-General of KUPPET, also argued that the biting teacher shortage is a major impediment to the rollout of the system.
He argued that the curriculum was heavily dependent on teachers yet the country has a deficit of more than 114,000 teachers.
"We are aware that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) alone have decried the understaffing of our school to the tune of 114,000 teachers in the year 2022. That is a figure that has been there before the transition of Grade 6 to junior secondary.
"We have a serious teacher gap dealing with the numbers. Dealing with the curriculum content, it may desire some kind of review," explained Misori.
Solomon Munene, the National Vice Chairperson of Private Schools Association, on the other hand, challenged the committee formed by the President to upgrade the training scheme of teachers to handle practical classes.
"There is a need to relook on the teachers qualifications to teach junior secondary school because they have technical subjects like Computer science and foreign languages which we do not have (teachers) out in the market," he explained.
In his inaugural speech on Tuesday, September 13, President Ruto assured parents that he will establish an education reform task force that will oversee public participation geared toward reforming CBC rollout.
He shared the plight of parents who are in limbo as the first cohort of students moves to Junior Secondary School (JSS) in January 2023, with a national test set for December.
"Public participation is critical in this matter. I will establish an education reform task force in the presidency that will be launched in the coming weeks. The task force will be in line with the constitutional demands of public participation," Ruto stated.
The taskforce will be collecting all views from relevant stakeholders and working out a solution that benefits the parents.
Furthermore, the President noted that his government will work to ensure a smooth transition from the 8-4-4 to the CBC.
