Finland Funds Retraining of Kenyan CBC Teachers
The Kenyan government’s implementation of the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) has received support from the Finnish government through a partnership aimed at funding the retraining of teachers on the new syllabus.
The University of Helsinki, Laurea University of Applied Sciences, and the University of Nairobi, Strathmore University, and Pwani University are collaborating to ensure better classroom delivery by CBC teachers.
The partnership, known as the Training Trainers for Teacher Education and Management in Kenya (TOTEMK), will run until 2024 and is fully funded by the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
The TOTEMK project, led by Seija Karppinen, was inspired by renowned Finnish educational methods and tools. It aims to develop a scalable educational model that fits the local context and responds to local needs by providing examples of best practices and approaches that have worked well.
The Finnish education system, which focuses on modernization through the exploration of new technologies and online tools, is more comprehensive than the Kenyan education system, according to the University of Helsinki.
The training involves an in-person module and an Open Online Course (MOOC) through four comprehensive core training modules, delivered to the trainees from twenty universities.
The Finnish teacher education system takes up to 5 years for teachers to become qualified practitioners. Every teacher needs to be an accomplished researcher who can develop solutions for different educational challenges and situations.
However, following implementation challenges with the CBC, the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has asked President William Ruto to convene a crisis meeting to chart the way forward.
The teachers are particularly concerned about the chaotic transition to Junior Secondary Schools (JSS).
KUPPET Chairman Omboko Milemba suggested that the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform be disbanded, claiming that the CBC task force relied on opinion polls instead of conducting in-depth research from education stakeholders before arriving at key decisions.
Finland Funds Retraining of Kenyan CBC Teachers
