‘This is how to save education,’ Munavu taskforce tells Ruto

The education task force appointed by President William Ruto has made far-reaching recommendations on how to reform Kenya’s education system.

Its findings include, among others, adopting a new and comprehensive school system under which all learning from Pre-Primary 1 to Grade 9 will be managed under one institution in a move aimed at reducing challenges caused by transition from one level to the next.

Schools will also get more money for capitation to ensure they are able to pay for the numerous services needed under the Competence-Based Curriculum.

In addition, the burden for learners will be made light as there is a recommendation to reduce the number of lessons taught at various levels. The move is meant to reduce overlap of causes.

And parents will also have to adjust because the taskforce has recommended that the categorisation of schools as national, extra-county or county schools abolished altogether.

The new system will also borrow from the defunct A-level system, which saw Form Six leavers undertake a mandatory six-month pre-university training at the National Youth Service, as part of measures to instil discipline in them.

If implemented, students graduating from senior school will also undergo a mandatory three-month community service programme before joining tertiary institutions and a further nine months of community service after completing tertiary education.

A certificate of compliance will be issued as proof that one engaged in community service before being admitted into the world of work.

The Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms (PWPER) report released yesterday has recommended that Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) reduces the number of learning areas under CBC from nine to seven at lower primary, 12 to eight at upper primary and 14 to nine at junior school to reduce overload and subject overlaps. The learning areas at pre-primary will be capped at five while those for senior school will be capped at seven.

“The key recommendations include that the Ministry of Education adopt a comprehensive school system (Pre-Primary 1 — Grade 9) comprising Pre-Primary, Primary School and Junior School managed as one institution. The term ‘secondary’ be dropped from the current junior secondary and senior secondary school,” the report states.

The taskforce has also called for implementation of a revised capitation in view of the realities of CBC to have pre-primary school learners get Sh1,170 each; Sh2,238 for primary level; Sh15,043 for junior school; Sh22,527 for day senior school, Sh19,800 for day SNE and Sh38,280 for boarding SNE and consider increasing the grant for Adult and Continuing Education (ACE).

“The capitation and grants should be reviewed every three years. Similarly, there will be coordination and management of bursaries and scholarships under the Kenya Basic Education Bursaries and Scholarship Council as a successor to the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation (JKF),” the report says.

When President William Ruto launched the report at State House, he said that it was not an easy task but tough decisions had to be taken and the country was no longer uneasy about CBC because all concerns around what will happen to children have been addressed.

“All parents and Kenyans are very particular – emotive I must say – about their children and what happens to them and, therefore, it was necessary for us to settle the subject of education early and we did not have to wait for the full report. We kept on implementing the report even as we were agreeing on the issues,” said President Ruto. “You must remember we said that education must be inclusive; we must never leave any child behind”.

To address challenges that lead children to drop out of school, such as lack of food at home, the government has instructed the Ministry of Education to this year increase the number of learners under the school feeding programme from 1.6 million to four million.

The President lauded counties for working with the National Government on the school-feeding programme to get more children to school, Nairobi being a case in point. He, however, criticised those who had gone to court to block the programme, saying they did not mean well for children, especially from poor families who cannot afford food.

“In our midst, we also have people who are not very good. Some fellow went to court to stop us feeding hungry children, just imagine… Someone has the temerity to go to court to stop it. Luckily for us and unluckily for them, they found some humane people in court who told them they cannot stop hungry children from having a meal,” he said. “That is the society we want to build where we can deal firmly and decisively with heartless people.”

The President singled out the PWPER team, led by Prof Raphael Munavu, for their contribution, professionalism, advise and knowledge they brought on board that have informed key decisions that put the country on the right path in the education reform programme.

He said the government had ensured there are adequate resources for the sector and this year’s budget speaks to this, with the sector being allocated Sh628 billion or 30 per cent of the total Budget.

“We made this deliberate decision because we wanted to sort out many things like the student-teacher ratio, TVETS and debts that were destroying our universities. I am very happy that we now have a credible plan on how we are going to deal with this,” said Ruto.

As a result of the investments in education, the President said the government had managed to hire, through the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), 56,000 teachers, the highest ever in Kenya’s history.
“The government recognises education as central to our human capital development and we focus on providing inclusive, equitable, relevant and quality education to our children at all the three levels of education,” he said.

He said numerous milestones have been achieved in the sector, including increased access to education, greater gender representation, improved infrastructure and enhanced capitation.

The President set up the PWPER team on September 30 last year to evaluate CBC and the entire education system and make recommendations on how to improve the sector.

The team has recommended that the country should prioritise investment in foundational learning. Basic literacy, numeracy and transferable skills such as social, emotional skills ensure essential blocks for acquiring higher order skills.

In other key highlights, the Ministry is to develop guidelines for accelerated education programmes for marginalised groups, learners with special needs and adults seeking education, to enhance equitable access and inclusion.

The team has also recommended adoption of a sustainable financing model for university education that combines grants/scholarship, loans and household contributions for differentiated categories of students as vulnerable, extremely needy, needy and less needy in order to address equitable access and inclusion in education.