Gospel musician and former presidential candidate Reuben Kigame has called on the government to completely abandon the Competency-Based Education (CBE) curriculum and revert to the 8-4-4 education system, arguing that the current framework is failing children, parents and teachers.

In a statement posted on his X account on Sunday, January 11, 2026, Kigame said returning to 8-4-4 is the quickest way to fix the problems plaguing Kenya’s education sector.

“I want to appeal to the government to completely return the system of education to 8-4-4. That is the quickest way to fix the mess that we are experiencing in the country now,” Kigame stated.

He dismissed the work of task forces and policy adjustments that have been introduced to stabilise CBE, insisting they have failed to redeem a system he believes was fundamentally flawed from the start.

“The task forces have not been able to redeem the system. All the discussions by the government, all the funding, all the adjustments are not able to solve a mess that was committed many years ago by Dr Matiang’i and his friends,” Kigame said.

Pathways systems

The activist took particular issue with CBE’s pathways system, which channels students into different learning tracks based on their abilities and interests, arguing that they limit learners instead of preparing them for life beyond school.

“The issue of pathways is the wrong way to go because you are restricting the children to a very narrow way of facing life. So this is one way of enslaving our children because when they finish school, they are not able to face life. They’re not able to adapt to anything else,” Kigame stated.

Kigame also faulted the preparedness of key stakeholders, saying teachers lack adequate training while parents are overwhelmed by the cost of implementing CBE.

“Also, the teachers are not well-trained for this mess. The parents are not prepared, not just in the so-called helping their children, but also it is too expensive for them,” he said.

Calling for a broader rethink of education policy, Kigame urged the country to move away from what he termed a colonial mentality of importing systems that work elsewhere.

“Friends, the time has come for us to restore our education system to ourselves, remove it from the colonial mentality of being given a system that works elsewhere. We need to dignify teachers, dignify parents, dignify the pupils and students,” he stated.

Education budget concerns

Kigame further questioned the use of public funds in the education sector, claiming that massive allocations have not translated into meaningful outcomes.

“Now, this allocation of Ksh702 billion, Ksh702 billion to education, and you don’t know where the money is going. It’s going to ghost schools and ghost projects and ghost fundings,” Kigame claimed.

According to Kigame, Kenya could spend significantly less and still guarantee free education for all learners.

“We can actually spend about Ksh300 billion and provide completely free education for our children. Capitation is late. It’s less than has been there before. It is a mess,” he said.

Kigame urged the government to act swiftly, calling for a complete reset of the system.

“I call upon the government to revert the system to 8-4-4 when it is still salvageable. Let us just revert everything to ground zero and completely do away with this CBE nonsense,” Kigame concluded.