Parents Call For CBC Suspension Ahead of Taskforce Recommendations and Implementation.
Public participation in the competency-based curriculum (CBC) has exposed the split, anxieties, and inadequacies among education stakeholders over its implementation.
In several conferences held across the nation, stakeholders have advocated for the suspension of CBC, arguing that the government hurried its implementation.
Following demands made to President William Ruto by parents, calls for the suspension of the Competency-Based Curriculum have gathered momentum.
Parents from around the nation, in their comments to the Presidential Working Group, encouraged the chief executive to halt the curriculum before January 2023, prior to the task force’s completion of its mandate.
According to the parents, the new curriculum lacked clear structures, suggesting that it should be revised before being reintroduced.
Some parents want the government to provide more funding for CBC.
The revelations were made during meetings of the Presidential Working Group on Education Reforms with stakeholders from various regions to collect their opinions on CBC.
Stakeholders in Bungoma, Homa Bay, and Elgeyo Marakwet said that the CBC curriculum could fail because the government wasn’t ready to carry it out.
Parents reported that the program was pricey.
In Bungoma, parents demanded the suspension of CBC, claiming that it was not being administered correctly and that teachers lacked the necessary resources.
According to them, the implementation of CBC was hurried.
Thursday, during a public hearing at St Teresa’s Primary School in Bungoma, citizens described the curriculum in rural public schools as complex and challenging to implement.
Benard Wafula, a father from Bumula, stated that all stakeholders should have been consulted before CBC implementation.
“The curriculum was forced on parents, teachers, and learners by the government, but I believe it can work if rolled out smoothly with all stakeholders on board,” Wafula told the education task force.
Wafula stated that there was a divide amongst education stakeholders, which would impede the curriculum’s implementation.
If implemented correctly, he argued, CBC would be beneficial for students and society as a whole.
“It is beneficial because it is a curriculum designed to stimulate the minds of students, but its success depends on the support of educators, parents, and other actors in the education system,” he said.
Some of the stakeholders stated that CBC should be streamlined to reduce costs.
In light of the age of the students, they urged that junior secondary schools be housed in primary schools.
According to the stakeholders, parents were overloaded by CBC’s associated costs.
Some stakeholders have also expressed worry regarding the government’s readiness for the children’s transition to the next level, stating that the transition to junior secondary schools remains a mystery.
They want the federal government to create a specific subsidy for the CBC to reduce the burden on parents and secure the network’s continued existence.
“We want the government to consider allocating cash for the purchase of instructional materials for students. We are struggling as parents,” parent Marida Bhoke stated.
