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Nandi hills Member of Parliament (MP) Bernard Kitur has weighed in on the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).

Speaking on Tuesday, February 7, 2023, the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) lawmaker demanded that the curriculum is scrapped arguing that it was causing a financial strain to Kenyan parents who were already struggling to survive the lean times.

He added that the government should instead consider bringing back the 8-4-4 system to cushion those at the bottom of the pyramid.

“My take is stop this thing called CBC to standard 7 and 8, let’s just continue with the program as it was and then let’s have a proper framework, a well thought out program is going to be reasonable on the pockets of the many Kenyans who are going through difficult financial challenges, ” he said.

Kitur further insinuated that the stakeholders in the sector were predisposed to their reality of abundance that they failed to view the challenges of those coming from the point of scarcity.

“Sometimes when you are top there you fail to realise the challenges of those people going downwards, its horrible, the economy is bad,” he added.

Earlier, President Willliam Ruto said that the change from 8-4-4 to CBC was the right move. However, parents have decried the curriculum on various platforms urging the government to reconsider or set measures that would lessen the financial costs incurred.

“There could have been some missteps, maybe we should have taken an extra one or two years to make sure we get teachers on board and all other facilities but that is now water under the bridge. That is why it was a conversation in the elections and I took the decision that for us to get professional advise, let us put together a presidential working party of educationists and other stakeholders and they have done a good job,” Ruto said.

CBC replaced the 8-4-4 system in 2017 during former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime.

Unlike the 8-4-4 system where learners would spend 8 years of primary education, 4 years in secondary school and 4 years at the university, the CBC curriculum runs on a 2-6-3-3 system of education where basic education has been organized in three levels; Early Years Education, Middle School Education, and Senior School.

The new system ends primary school learning at Grade 6, and the pioneer class did their final exams dubbed Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) in November 2022.