New curriculum has to take into account special needs students

A curriculum that aims at putting more focus on skills rather than knowledge, finally phasing out the 8-4-4 system, is being rolled out. The competence-based 2-6-6-3 system encompasses two years of pre-school, six each of primary and high school and three of tertiary education.

According to the ‘Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development Assessment Findings Report 2016’, 93.6 per cent of Kenyans stated that there was a need for the curriculum to address societal needs, followed by personal, economic and, lastly, technological ones.

While the 8-4-4 system is notoriously blamed for producing ‘half-baked’ individuals who are well-trained theoretically but tend to perform poorly in practical assignments, the new curriculum is said to be the saviour for our children.

TALENTS

The 2-6-6-3 system provides for a variety of opportunities to nurture a learner’s potential and talents in preparation for life. It is geared towards making learning enjoyable while equipping learners with seven key skills: Communication and collaboration; self-efficacy; critical thinking and problem-solving; creativity and imagination; citizenship; digital literacy; and learning to learn.

We have seen the great success of a similar curriculum in Canada, Scotland and Finland, which is highly ranked as having one of the best education systems.

But while this is a great milestone, it is also the best to address how the new curriculum can cater for the needs of differently abled children. Learning disabilities such as dyslexia affect the way children process and understand information.

Our education system needs to take into consideration that students with special needs ought to be taught differently or need some accommodation to enhance the learning environment.

SOCIAL DISCRIMINATION

According to a 2014 study by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO), the National Special Needs Education Survey (NSNES), dubbed Jitolee, 16 per cent of children with disabilities are out of school due to social discrimination and lack of schools. There is, therefore, more that the government can do, especially in rural areas.

The need for the government to focus on setting up necessary physical infrastructure and resources such as access ramps, adapted desks and tailored toilets and doors within schools cannot be underscored (? ? ?).

In addition, the new curriculum ought to incorporate necessary teaching support for the teachers to understand the learning requirements of children with special needs and expand the access to their education. Jitolee revealed a very high teacher-pupil ratio among the less-salient special needs categories such as specific learning disabilities (105:1), emotional and behavioural disorders (33:1), speech and language disorders (48:1), multiple disabilities (37:1) and deaf-blind (9:1).

SPECIAL NEEDS

There is also a need to integrate special needs learners into the ordinary school system. This way, they can interact with other children and those without disabilities can learn to accept them and avoid social discrimination.

Inclusive education is key to the success of a 360-view education system that caters for the wholesome growth of our children. Japan, for example, has been pushing for an inclusive society in its curriculum system with most of its special needs children being taught in regular schools.

With the appropriate infrastructure, proper teaching and learning materials and assistive devices, special needs children have a greater chance of participating in the society.

 Ms Mathaga is the manager, Family Group Foundation. [email protected]