Kenyans are talking about basic education
curriculum reform; what our children should and how they should learn.
According to the government, current curriculum delivered through the 8-4-4
system does not serve the current and future needs of our society.
The proposed basic education curriculum
framework is excellent but not perfect. But the government has not done a great
job communicating the new curriculum to the public – what the new curriculum is
about or why we need to change the curriculum in the first place. And more
importantly, the public has not had a chance to give their views. Even teachers
have not been adequately involved in the curriculum conversation.
The current system is criticized for being
exam-centred. Moreover, the current system does not instill in our children the
necessary values and a sense of community. More importantly, a review of the
current curriculum concluded that learners did not acquire adequate
entrepreneurial skills for self-reliance, and apart from apart from high unemployment, social vices
such as crime, drug abuse and antisocial behavior were on the rise. Talk about
a stinging indictment.
The government believes that the new curriculum
whose vision is to enable every Kenyan to become engaged empowered and ethical
citizens, will equip learners with skills, knowledge, attitudes and values to
thrive and make the world a better place for everyone. It’s about citizenship,
living together. Most importantly for me, the curriculum reform is about values
and ethics; about the examined life. The unexamined life, according to
Socrates, is not worth living.
Moreover, the mission of the new curriculum
is to nurture every learner’s potential. In a word, it is learner-centred. This
new curriculum affirms, like Plutarch, Greek philosopher and writer, and
Socrates, that education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a
vessel. It is about setting alight the creative imagination and fanning the flames
of innovation in our children.
The new curriculum is about learning to
learn. It is not just about the subject matter; it is about the content of the
learner’s experience. Hence, learning is reinstated as a process of
co-creation. The delivery of the new
curriculum re-imagines the role of the teacher and pedagogy. The teacher will
no longer be the sage on the stage. The teacher will be the guide on the side;
coach, mentor and facilitator.
Whatever is ossified and mechanical about
the current curriculum is its subjugation of the child in his or her context – the
child and their community. Thankfully, one of the six guiding principles of the
curriculum is Community Service Learning.
In simple language, this is a form of experiential education where
students learn through iterations of action and reflection and in the process
link personal and social growth, cognitive and academic growth.
While education is not part of President
Kenyatta’s Big Four Action Plan, it is the foundation without which anything we
build is in vain. The education curriculum reform is worthy of the Mr. Kenyatta’s
leadership. To guarantee every Kenyan child quality education would be a most
durable legacy.
