NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 18 – Former Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Nelson Havi has castigated teachers’ union officials over their about turn to slam the competency-based curriculum despite having filed affidavits in court supporting the new learning module.
“KNUT and KUPPET officials are dishonest lot. They filed affidavits in court supporting CBC,” Havi asserted in remarks targeted at the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET).
“Today they are shouting loudly that CBC is not viable and should be scrapped. Can they concede in court?” he posed.
Havi’s comments came amid a sustained onslaught on CBC by a section of stakeholders in the education sector including some of who opposed his bid to have the implementation of the new curriculum stopped.
The former LSK President had moved to court in 2021 to challenge CBC implementation arguing the Ministry of Education could not “alter the system of education through sessional papers and policy decisions instead of legislation.”
Havi argued that CBC led to the disruption of the basic structure of the country’s education system and interfered as a result to the right to education.
KUPPET Secretary General Akelo Misori opposed Havi’s submissions in court defending the CBC which he argued was aligned with the Constitution, and in particular Articles 53 and 43(1).
KUPPET Chairperson Omboko Milemba on Saturday urged the current government to include union officials in the taskforce to be formed following a commitment by President William Ruto to reexamine the new curriculum.
“To succeed, every education system must get the goodwill of all stakeholders including the government, teachers, learners and all sectors of society,” Milemba said.
Former KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion also slammed the new curriculum casting doubt on its actual implementation.
Sossion termed the curriculum as “outcome-based” saying it was incomparable with similar modules in Singapore and Finland.
“We are cheating ourselves as a country because there has never been CBC in our classes, teachers are teaching an outcome-based curriculum,” he stated.
Sossion had in February termed the education system as an attempt at forcing an inferior education system over what he termed as a strong 8-4-4 system.
“There has never been CBC in our classroom. If we get down to the true definition of CBC that has been practiced in Finland and Singapore, what we see in Kenya isn’t CBC. It is a fraudulent curriculum. One can’t bring an inferior education system to replace a strong education system,” he stated.
During his inauguration on Tuesday, President Ruto emphasized on the need for public participation even as he promised to establish a taskforce to look into the matter.
“On education and in particular the implementation of the CBC curriculum, public participation is critical in this matter. I will establish an education reform taskforce in the presidency which will be launched in the coming weeks. It will collect views from all players in line with the constitutional demand of public participation,” he stated.
Ruto, while recognizing the anxieties of parents on the matter, promised to ensure a the interest of both learners and parents are taken into consideration.
“We are particularly alive to the anxieties of parents on the transition of the last 8-4-4 class and the first CBC class in January next year,” he stressed.
