By Kiplat Kaptuya
Kenya National Union of teachers (KNUT) West Pokot Branch has supported the move by President William Ruto to form a task force to look into the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC).
Union officials led by Executive Secretary Martin Sembelo slammed the then Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha over rushing the implementation of the curriculum saying that teachers were not only ready but also had neither been consulted nor trained properly.
“The greatest impediment is that teachers were not properly trained. There is no need for teachers to sit in class yet they don’t know anything. CBC is only drama in class. It was rushed without participation of all stakeholders especially teachers,” he said.
He added: “We need collective participation where parents and all education stakeholders should be incorporated and present their views. We need a task force of experts, professionals and educationists from universities to evaluate the system. Education is a crucial Ministry where you cannot mess with our children. This is the right time for its review.”
Speaking to the press on Thursday in Kapenguria, Mr. Sembelo said that the curriculum was in disarray because of lack of resources, infrastructure, learning materials and shortage of teachers and what it required was good foundation and enough resources.
“It needs a lot of resources and massive investment. We should prepare well and have enough learning materials because the system entails many practicals,” he said.
He further added that after the review, the system should be implemented in an effective and systematic manner.
In addition, Mr. Sembelo called on the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and the Government to abolish the teacher delocalization policy.
He said that the policy had negatively impacted the performance of learners thus jeopardizing learning in schools and in turn lowered education standards.
“Delocalization is the worst thing we have ever experienced. It has not only created disharmony in families but also led to family break ups among other negatives. We want an education system where teachers are comfortable who in turn produce good results. Let teachers teach in their home counties,” he said.
The union boss pointed out that teachers had met many challenges especially in arid and semi arid areas where those posted in the areas found it hard to survive thus the policy needed to be closely scrutinized.
“Transferring teachers to unfamiliar and hostile territories has affected education in many areas in the Country. TSC should reassess the policy as the exercise is harmful to both learners and teachers as it has far-reaching implications on education in the long run,” he said.
He added that such areas required someone who understood the environment and more importantly spoke the local dialect.
Kapenguria MP, Samuel Moroto who echoed the sentiments faulted the TSC and Ministry of Education over the frequent transfers of Head teachers saying that it had greatly contributed to mass failure in national examinations.
He called on the Commission not to transfer teachers as it would lower education standards.
