CBC awareness drive can draw public support
In CBC, most learning happens in groups and not just memorising facts as with 8-4-4.
The implementation of the new Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) spearheaded by the Ministry of Education seems to be running into trouble. The crisis of confidence with CBC runs across a wide spectrum of stakeholders — namely parents, teachers, legislators, educational experts, the clergy and the general public.
The fact that over the past weeks, the ongoing curriculum reforms have dominated public debate with Kenyans taking different positions is testimony that there exist huge information gaps on CBC.
For starters, most Kenyans don’t seem to understand what CBC is all about. There are numerous definitions of CBC but pundits concur that this is where learning is based on the needs and potential of individual learners under a flexible framework and parameters that move and shift according to the learners’ demands.
Therefore, it has the potential to prepare our children for the challenges of the future empowering them with knowledge and skills in various fields of study in a flexible educational programme tailored to every student.
Analogy
The best analogy to explain CBC is a driving test. To get a licence, one must practically drive a vehicle. Some will be competent earlier than others but many will still pass the test, albeit at different times.
How is CBC different from 8-4-4? The 8-4-4 system is widely accused of robbing our youth of much unrealised potential. CBC is tailored to address what the 8-4-4 system did not. The main difference between these two approaches is the change of emphasis from the traditional chalk-and-talk teaching to focusing on the learner.
In CBC, most learning happens in groups and not just memorising facts as with 8-4-4. It focuses on developing competencies among learners and making them understand the core values and important issues that shape their thinking and orientation in a pragmatic manner. This is crucial for building sustainable national character and ethos.
Home-grown solutions
One of the common enemies of Man, especially in Africa, has been youth unemployment. Research has shown that countries that have conquered unemployment and poverty are those that utilise the ingenuity and resilience of their populace to find home-grown solutions to their problems.
Proper implementation of CBC could finally give us the much-awaited answer to the question as to when Kenya, and Africa, will start to use its resourcefulness and move on the path to socioeconomic success as envisioned in Kenya Vision 2030.
Now that the CBC train has left the station, the ministry and other relevant government agencies should launch a well-resourced comprehensive nationwide multimedia public awareness campaign to address the concerns raised. They are valid and, with proper information and facts, we will knock down the mental resistance barriers.
Let them mount a massive drive encompassing apt messaging, grassroots outreach, media relations and government affairs involving all the stakeholders, including learners and teachers.
Mr Nyantino is a trained teacher and communications consultant. [email protected].
