In a survey
of 350,000 children from across East Africa Uwezo, an education advocacy
organization revealed that one in five children in primary 7 did not have
primary 2 competency levels in reading and numeracy. This means that 25 percent
of school age children in East Africa cannot read, write or count well to meet
minimum learning standards.
My sense
has always been that Uwezo findings are probably underestimating the magnitude
of the problem and the crisis is much deeper. But here are two things out of
the Uwezo study that worry me sick: children from socio-economically
disadvantaged households perform; and, invariably, children in public schools
perform worse than children in private schools. I am sure you find this a
rather obvious and expected finding.
We all must
be troubled; especially if you are a taxpayer and believe that the future of
this country is inextricable bound to the potential, capability and achievement
of the youth, most of who come from struggling households and attend public schools.
I reckon that these kinds of kids constitute about 70 percent of the kids
enrolled in our primary schools today. But the odds are stacked against these
kids because less than only 20 percent of the kids who sit primary 8
examinations transition to decent county and national schools.
Poor
quality education is jeopardizing the future of millions of young people in
Kenya, especially those from low-income families. In our constitution,
education is a fundamental human right and essential stepping stone to
individual opportunity. If our society is to deliver on this constitutional
obligation education must provide young people with the essential knowledge
skills, attitudes they need to be productive citizens. A good education is
therefore not just a privilege of the well to do. A good education is a
birthright of every Kenyan child. We must to ensure that every child,
regardless of their social background, attains an agreeable minimum standard of
literacy and numeracy.
In
my view, we do not understand the full scale of the learning crisis and have no
clue about what needs to be done. At the heart of not understanding the problem
is the fact that we do not competency indicators to measure and track learning
outcomes. And without the data we have no evidence-base against which to hold
stakeholders – teachers, government, school boards, students and parents –
accountable and to guide relevant policy reform. National exam scores won’t do.
We
need consensus on competencies that are important for children across the
country. Such competencies must be linked to the knowledge, skills and
attitudes children need to succeed in a dynamic globalized world. A focus on
competency-based education calls for a radical shift away from our
examination-based education, which demand nothing but mindless regurgitation
from our children. In thinking about essential competencies, we must see
education as critical to attaining the human ideals of peace, freedom and
social justice.
Commonly
known as the DeLors Report, Learning: The
treasure within, a report to UNESCO of the international commission for the
21st century published in 1996 provides an essential framework for
thinking about nationally relevant learning competencies. The four pillars
proposed in The DeLors Report provide framework for developing objective competency
indicators to measure learning across the school system; from early childhood
to post-secondary level.
Here
are Delors’ four pillars, with examples of measurable skills and attitudes that
I think could form a basis for a competency-based education.
·
Learning
to live together by developing an appreciation for others – their
culture, religion and values on the basis of a spirit of understanding and
appreciate our interdependence. This is especially critical for an ethnical
divided society such as ours;
·
Learning
to know by developing the ability to think and write, laying the
foundation for learning throughout life, and especially developing the tools to
think and solve problems rather than memorizing facts;
·
Learning
to do through experiences that are based on real life problems,
which fosters greater retention and application of knowledge and skills. This
is radically different from traditional learning approaches, which are content-focused.
·
Learning
to be by inculcating personal responsibility, developing
imagination and creative expression, underscoring the central role of the arts
in education.
Data
from assessment based on the four competency pillars could used to refine
policy and practice, leading ultimately to improvements in learning outcomes
for all children while holding all stakeholders accountable to our children.
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