Rethink making mathematics optional
Mathematics is at the centre of the career compass; the cornerstone of careers.
When the government rolled out the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), key stakeholders including teachers, parents, scholars and trade unions, raised serious concerns about the lack of public participation and inadequate resources to support it.
However, then Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha, then, casually likened the rollout of the new curriculum to a train that had left the station. The die had been cast, and all that Kenyans could do is to play catch-up.
The government’s lack of seriousness in listening to dissenting opinions about CBC has constantly made matters worse, with senior educational officials continuing to issue conflicting and sometimes confusing directives about its implementation.
The latest of such decisions is the proposal by the Ministry of Education to make mathematics optional in senior school. Yet, this is still the basic level of learning, where promoting numeracy and literacy skills is important for students’ academic progress and future career expectations.
In serious societies, important decisions such as this one, are well thought out and made based on research, current and future needs of the nation and in line with globally accepted standards. It is therefore, perplexing that the ministry is deciding to make mathematics optional at the basic level of education despite being aware of its far-reaching negative consequences on students’ future opportunities and the country’s progress.
Presently, global leading economies such as the United States and China are relying on science, technology, engineering and mathematics courses to drive their development.
By relegating mathematics to an elective subject at secondary school level, Kenya risks setting up its future generation for limited opportunities in the world of work, especially for children from poor backgrounds. This is against the Basic Education Act, which guarantees every child the right to quality, free and compulsory primary and secondary education.
We need to ensure that every learner develops strong mathematical abilities to succeed in a competitive world, else, we risk raising a generation of children who cannot even count their own fingers.
John Chumo, Eldoret