Private schools consider training teachers on new curriculum
Kenya Private Schools Association national chairperson Mutheu Kasanga addresses the annual general meeting at Sai Eden Roc Hotel, Malindi, on April 12, 2017. She has said implementation of the new curriculum is being rocked by challenges. PHOTO | LABAN WALLOGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Ms Kasanga said private schools can mobilise resources to train their own teachers ahead of the rollout next year.
- The proprietors and directors of private schools accused KICD of laxity in communication.
Private schools have said they will conduct their own training on the new curriculum if the government does not resolve issues affecting its implementation.
Kenya Private Schools Association (KPSA) national chairperson Mutheu Kasanga said schools will not depend on the government’s training as they are facing challenges.
“We have read all the reports that backed the new curriculum and we know where the thinking came from. Our own KPSA members were part of the original think tanks way back in 2008 when the first idea emerged,” she said.
Ms Kasanga told the Nation private schools can mobilise resources to train their own teachers ahead of the rollout next year.
“We know what needs to be done. We can mobilise resources, but can the government do the same?
"If we walk away and do our own training when will the government schools catch up? There is no fun in being the only performers and it will create social division,” Ms Kasanga added.
SKILLS
Currently, the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) trains teachers to prepare them for the new curriculum.
There have been major hiccups facing the trial of the 2-6-3-3-3 syllabus due to lack of guidelines on the assessments of learners’ competency, resources and teacher training.
According to KICD timelines, the last Form Four class to sit the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination will be in 2025.
Known as a competence-based curriculum, the new system, which seeks to replace the current 8-4-4, focuses on skills instead of knowledge.
COMMUNICATION
But private schools have been left in the dark, they lack assessment guidelines, they said.
“This curriculum has no exams but that assessment framework has not been released to us.
"We have finished one term; our learners have gone home but we did not have a reporting method to show parents what their children have achieved. That is not the spirit of the new curriculum,” she said.
The proprietors and directors of private schools accused KICD of laxity in communication.
TRAINERS
Ms Kasanga said trainers of teachers from private schools in different counties are demanding cash.
“Training has an impact on implementation. You cannot have people who are not trained carrying out a new curriculum.
"Trainers are demanding cash from private schools to train their teachers,” Ms Kasanga said during their 21st Kenya Private Schools Association conference at Prideinn Hotel in Mombasa.
She said it is unfair for trainers to demand cash from private schools yet they have been paid by the government.
