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George Kebaso and Lydiah Nyanchwa

A survey has revealed that more than half of teachers are unhappy about the implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC). 

The outcome of the survey conducted in six regions of the country and in 224 schools, underline the challenges the curriculum rolled out early this year is likely to face in implementation.  

 “Majority of the responses indicated that 57.4 per cent of teachers’ union representatives and 30.1 per cent of individual teachers surveyed, respectively, indicated that the implementation of CBC is not appropriate,” says the report.

But  40.5 per cent of parents and 30.1 per cent of teachers think the appropriateness of the implementation of the new system is average, according to the survey findings released yesterday during the opening of the Elimu Tuitakayo National Stakeholders Conference at the Desmond Tutu Conference Centre in Westlands, Nairobi.

Dubbed Summative Evaluation of the Pilot Phase of CBC in Kenya, the survey was commissioned by the Kenya National Union of Teachers and carried out by a group of scholars and researchers.

No consultation

Participants at the conference accused the government of pushing down the throats of Kenyans a system that they understand little about.

University Academic Staff Union secretary general Constantine Wasonga and Kenya Human Rights Commission executive director George Kegoro said the government had not adequately consulted stakeholders before rolling out the curriculum.

“An education system implemented without consultations would fail,” Wasonga said.

He wondered why publishers were more keen to have CBC implemented than teachers who are  at the centre of its execution.

“Why rush the implementation of this curriculum as if we are in a do-or-die game? We suspect that the rush is aimed at benefitting some cartels. There is a hidden agenda,” he added.

Kegoro claimed donors were mounting pressure on the government to implement CBC. 

“It is becoming clear that the government is keen to safeguard  its relationship with foreign countries,” he said.

The study captured the opinions of 672 teachers and 56 Quality Assurance Officers. 

It also found out that, contrary to the CBC’s requirements of one locker and chair for every child, about six children were sharing a desk.

“In a classroom of 100 pupils where each is entitled to an evaluation book, we found out that learners were sharing books,” says the report.

The survey also revealed a shortage of facilities such as swimming pools and sports grounds in learning institutions.

Conducted between January and July, the study says the piloting of the new system had little impact on learners.

“Before the national roll-out of the CBC in 2019, the Ministry of Education piloted the CBC in selected schools whose findings show the piloting had no impact on the effectiveness of the implementation,” said the report.

The authors of the report say that if indeed the piloting was effective, then students from pilot schools could have performed better than those in other schools.

Pilot impact

The study compared those who were piloted from 2017 and 2018 by the ministry and those who were enrolled in 2019.

“From the study, we concluded that the pilot phase has no effect on the learners. It also shows that the tests were marked and the maximum score for each skill was calculated and indicates that generally, the students are still weak in the competencies expected of them,” the report says.

In the CBC pilot tests, pupils in critical, imaginative and creative thinking subjects, they were awarded 23, 20 and 16 respectively, while those tested on citizenship and problem solving scored one.