Deputy President encouraged the participants to explore international best practices to ensure they come up with a water tight document as they seek to scrap the 8-4-4 system/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 30 – Deputy President William Ruto says the education curriculum reform being undertaken is expected to seal loopholes in national examinations in schools across the country.
Speaking during the opening of the Conference on Curriculum Reform at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) on Wednesday, the Deputy President encouraged the participants to explore international best practices to ensure they come up with a water tight document as they seek to scrap the 8-4-4 system.
While describing the curriculum reform process as part of the Jubilee Government’s goals, he indicated that it should further transform students into all rounded individuals.
“When we wrote the Jubilee Manifesto, a very important component was our desire to re-look our education system. I am very proud this morning that we are executing one of the items that we listed and we have been working over the last three years to try and re-shape our education,” he stated.
His sentiments come at a time when radical reforms at the Kenya National Examination Council has been undertaken following the cancellation of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results of 5,000 candidates accused of cheating.
“The government is also committed to ensuring the student instructions and assessments which are key components of quality. This curriculum reform will entail a review of the nature and form of the assessment of our learners,” he said.
He appealed to education stakeholders to explore local and global research as they seek to develop the document and assured them of the government’s support.
“The government will continue to make the necessary investments in education. We are dedicating 7.2 percent of our GDP to this sector. This is the highest for the record in this region. Part of these resources will go towards supporting educational policies, legal and curriculum reforms,” he said.
His statement was echoed by Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i who stated that the draft design of the new curriculum will be ready in the next two months.
“We do not want to surprise the people of Kenya with a draft design that they have not directly contributed to and in July by the grace of God, we will get together and consultatively look at the draft that we have done and move to the next level,” he stated.
The new curriculum is expected to provide access to quality and relevant education through flexible curriculum pathways that develop students’ abilities and talents through the provision of adequate infrastructure, and HR nurturing creativity and innovation and the reduction of wastage at all levels.
It will also seek to utilise technology to build the competency of both teachers and students and further enhance education research.
Education stakeholders are also expected to come up with a document that will create an enabling environment for performance based learning, and transform assessment to check knowledge, skills and abilities required for the performance of certain tasks.
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