We are flip-flopping for lack of a philosophy

Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed announces the launch of the new curriculum at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development in Nairobi on January 2, 2019. PHOTO | KANYIRI WAHITO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Professional regulatory and training institutions have not been adequately involved in the design of this new curriculum and development of content.
  • We have still not engaged on the reason we organise a formal system of education instead of leaving the task of nurturing young Kenyans to their own parents.

The Ministry of Education has been giving mixed signals to Kenyans about the implementation of a new curriculum to replace the 8-4-4 system.

Towards the end of last year, there were indications from the top leadership of the ministry that the technical experts considered the system to be unprepared for the overhaul, and the minister agreed with them and ordered a pause in the implementation of the curriculum to allow for proper preparations.

It was clear that the implementers of the new curriculum felt that its rollout was being rushed, and most of them were not adequately prepared to put in the work required to ensure that it is successfully implemented.

It was also indicated that most schools did not have the requisite materials for the various activities envisaged in the new curriculum, and its hurried implementation would result in a poor job.

Finally, curriculum implementation materials were not ready and had neither been distributed to the schools nor to commercial outlets for sale.

TEXTBOOKS

Unfortunately, commercial interests intervened, and the most prominent group of supporters for the new curriculum were textbook publishers whose interests did not require a diviner to decipher.

Over the past 30 years this country has successfully managed to neuter the professional and the expert, and the opinion of these profiteers in this matter was considered equal to or even weightier than that of education experts.

As a matter of course, commercial interests trumped professional opinion and the ministry of education reversed itself, proclaiming the country readier than ever to implement the new curriculum.

High level educators of health professionals have also taken a keen interest in this matter, because the products of this new system will be knocking at the doors of higher learning institutions seeing further training.

SELF-RELIANCE

Unfortunately, professional regulatory and training institutions have not been adequately involved in the design of this new curriculum and development of content.

The creators of this curriculum have assumed that they are able to determine what knowledge, skills and attitudes are adequate as prerequisites for the professional training offered at higher education institutions.

More importantly, the makers of this curriculum contrast its vision with the 8-4-4 philosophy that focused on self-reliance.

In their own words, this curriculum shifts the focus from the tangible outcome of self-reliance to the amorphous one of enabling “every Kenyan to become an engaged, empowered and ethical citizen”.

For a curriculum that eschews teaching by objectives and promotes clear learning outcomes (competencies), the overarching mission of “nurturing every learner’s potential” is decidedly difficult to measure.

NURTURE

Throughout all documents associated with this new curriculum, it is evident that there is no clear national philosophy of education.

We have still not engaged on the reason we organise a formal system of education instead of leaving the task of nurturing young Kenyans to their own parents.

In the absence of this philosophy, we continue to argue about superficialities because we have not agreed on the overall rationale of the entire system.

Like the man said, in the absence of a plan all actions seem right. Until they fail.

Lukoye Atwoli is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Dean, Moi University School of Medicine; [email protected]