By Our Reporter
The directorate of Adult and Continuing Education in collaboration with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) have embarked on curriculum reforms aimed at coming up with a new curriculum for the youth and adult learners in the light of Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) in the formal sector to address the needs of the adult and youth learners.
The curriculum will also help expand access and improve the quality of adult learning since it will be based on learners’ needs and focuses on skills development.
The curriculum will be developed within the framework of lifelong learning which emphasizes on continuing learning for life.
The directorate has developed language primers in 16 local languages that are Digo, Giryama, Kidawida, Pokomo, Kikuyu, Meru, Dholuo, Suba, Ekegusii, Kalenjin, Luhyia, Borana, Somali, Kamba, Turkana, and Samburu; which are books developed within the environment of particular community that shares the same language, culture, lifestyle and values.
According to the outgoing Adult and Continuing Education (ACE) Director Kinara Nyabwari, there is need to review and develop assessment tool appropriate to ACE programme, liaise with Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) for an alternative curriculum for adult learners in order to phase out Non-Formal Education (NFE) and continue with continuing education in tandem with lifelong learning.
In addition, there is also need to explore modalities of how the Government can provide budgetary provisions for teaching and learning materials for ACE, in view of unpopular cost- sharing and provision of capitation grants; provision of infrastructure funding for ACE programme as per the Basic Education regulation, and provision of capitation funds for school age going children attending ACE centres especially in urban slums and ASAL regions.
The Directorate of ACE became a full-fledged directorate in 2009 upon joining the Ministry of Education. Since inception in 1979 the then Department of Adult Education had been housed in almost 8 different ministries which has affected the Directorate in terms of prioritization in resource allocation and visibility on the ground.
These Ministries are Ministry of Labour and Social Services, April 1979 to February 1980, Ministry of Cooperatives, Housing and Social Services, March 1980 to September 1980; and Ministry of Culture and Social Services, October 1980 to December 1997.
Others include Ministry of Home Affairs, National Heritage, Culture and Social Services, January 1998 to September 1999; Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development, September 1999 to July 2003; Ministry of Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services, August 2003 to March 2008; and Ministry of Education, March 2008 to date.
