Ministry of Education Under Pressure to Fully Implement CBC policy

Ministry of Education Under Pressure to Fully Implement CBC policy.

The Ministry of Education is under pressure to fully implement the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) policy to ensure that learners benefit from the education system.

The National Assembly’s Committee on Education has raised concerns over the roll-out of the CBC system, which continues to disadvantage public school learners due to inadequate financial and infrastructural support from the government.

Within the next year, the first cohort of CBC students is expected to transition to senior school, marking the completion of the first phase of the curriculum.

However, members of parliament are worried that many of these learners have not received the full CBC experience, attributing this failure to the Ministry of Education’s inability to implement key policies.

Parliament’s Concerns on Infrastructure and Resources

Parliamentarians pointed out that the Ministry has failed to ensure that every primary school in Kenya has a junior secondary school as mandated by the National Assembly.

This has resulted in some learners walking long distances to access junior schools, especially in areas where these schools do not exist.

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There is also concern that learners, particularly in public schools, are not well-equipped for science and technology-based subjects due to the lack of necessary infrastructure and teaching aids.

In several constituencies, there is a lack of facilities like laboratories and teaching materials for junior secondary schools.

One lawmaker highlighted that in his constituency, 26 public primary institutions housing junior secondary classes do not even have electricity.

This issue is critical since ICT plays a significant role in the CBC program, and its absence hinders the proper implementation of the curriculum.

Teaching and Staffing Challenges

The absence of clear policies on school governance under the CBC system has also affected staffing.

Lawmakers stressed that until the Ministry of Education provides a policy document on comprehensive school staffing norms, aligning staff to the requirements of the CBC remains a challenge.

This is particularly important as the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) must be properly guided to ensure adequate staffing and budgeting.

Despite the challenges, the Ministry of Education claims to be progressing with plans for the transition of learners based on the CBC policy framework. The ministry pointed out that the CBC is guided by the Basic Education Curriculum Framework of 2017.

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However, officials acknowledged that this framework has been revised periodically to address content overload, subject integration, and other gaps in the curriculum design.

Finally, the ministry has been urged to provide clearer guidelines on funding junior and senior school education. Additionally, lawmakers stressed the importance of clarifying how school feeding programs will continue to benefit learners, particularly in public schools.

Ministry of Education Under Pressure to Fully Implement CBC policy.

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