In a major departure from the campaign promise to do away with CBC, DP Rigathi Gachagua has said CBC is here to stay and praised Education CS George Magoha for a job well done.
BY HARRIET MUGO
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has said that President Ruto’s administration is strengthening, not repealing, the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC).
The second-in-command was setting the record straight on the future of the CBC, just days after President Ruto appointed a taskforce to come up with recommendations, key among them an appropriate structure to implement the curriculum.
DP Gachagua stated that the 42-member team will work on ways to improve the CBC while also addressing challenges of where there may be weaknesses during the launch of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms at Cemastea in Karen on Wednesday.
“The CBC is not being repealed, what this good team is doing is to look at it, get the views of the stake holders and the people of Kenya to keep and improve what is good and address challenges of where there could be weaknesses,” DP Gachagua said on Wednesday.
President Ruto appointed the 42-member team in late September to evaluate the country’s education system and make recommendations, including an appropriate structure to implement the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC).
In a Gazette Notice dated September 30, 2022, President Ruto stated that the Working Party on Education Reform will work for six months and must submit a progress report to him every two months from the date of their appointment.
The team, which will be chaired by Prof. Raphael Munavu, will include globally renowned Kenyan teacher Peter Tabichi, Mutheu Kasanga, who was a member of the CBC task force, and Prof Collins Odete, among others.
The task force, which has also been assigned 7 secretaries, will study all laws governing the basic education subsector and make recommendations for review of the legislation with a view to addressing “duplication, ambiguities, efficiency, constraints and improving linkages.”
During the campaign period, Ruto promised that the Competency-Based Curriculum would need to be reviewed to accommodate concerns from parents, teachers as well as stakeholders in the Education sector.
Still, on basic education, the team will be required to study, assess and make recommendations on “the conceptualization and implementation of key tenets guiding the competency-based approach including but not limited to value-based education, community service learning, parental empowerment and engagement.
