KICD to forge ahead with new curriculum plans
Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development Director Julius Jwan, in Kisumu on January 19, 2018, distributes mathematics textbooks to MM Shah's Standard Three pupils. He said the new curriculum is being implemented properly. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Jwan said the pilot project is being conducted within the acceptable standards.
- More than 160,000 Early Years Education pre primary 1, 2 and grade 1 - 3 teachers have been trained.
The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development has said it is proceeding with the implementation of the new curriculum after getting approval from the Education ministry.
Director Julius Jwan on Sunday said that the activity is being conducted within globally acceptable standards.
"Claims that the reform agenda had stalled are misleading and meant to cause unnecessary panic," he said, adding that findings of an audit done by the agency were not conclusive.
"We cannot only rely on an internal evaluation. We need a third eye to generate comparative findings on our state of preparedness for a full rollout. That is why even piloting was necessary to bring out gaps so that they can be fixed."
APPROVED
He said a subsequent assessment ordered by Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed, and the upshot discussed by the Multisectorial National Steering Committee on Curriculum Reforms, gave the project a thumps up.
"The report indicated that the overall quality of Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC) implementation is rated at 56 percent against the minimum global threshold of 50 percent," he said.
On October 3 during a meeting with the committee, Ms Mohamed said she had called for an external evaluation "to generate comparative findings on our state of preparedness for a full CBC rollout".
"At today’s meeting, we received results of an internal evaluation of the CBC that was completed two weeks ago. I am happy to note that indicators of evaluation based on the evaluation report have shown good results, although we have room for improvement," she said.
TALENT
On capacity building, Dr Jwan said teachers in upper primary will get training.
So far, more than 160,000 Early Years Education pre primary 1, 2 and grade 1 - 3 teachers have been trained by the KICD.
The curriculum will be launched next year from Grade One to Grade Three while those in Class Four will continue with the piloting, which will now cover all schools and not just 235 primary schools.
The system will replace the current 8-4-4, and it will foster talents and skills of learners.
It is phased as follows: two years of pre-school, six years of primary school, six years of high school, and three years of tertiary education (2-6-6-3).
