By Amoto Dennis Ndiewo
As the Kenyan government grapples with issues that came along with the talent based Competence Based Curriculum (CBC) sitting on Basic Education Curriculum Framework (BECF), neighbouring war torn Somalia government have arrested seven principals for trying to spice the curriculum with extremist Al-Shabaab ideology.
The Somali government arrested the principals for meeting the militants and discussing changes in the curricula in favour the militant’s Islamic laws in private schools. Each of the principals is responsible for about 1,000 students, ranging from the ages of seven to 15.
According to Mahad Hassan Osman, the information minister for Hir Shebelle region where the incident occurred, the tutors had been intercepted and arrested at Jowhar town.
“We arrested them meeting the militants with big ticket of attempting to change the school curriculum to suit what the violent group believes in,’’ said the minster.
He added that the new curriculum was based on the strict implementation of Islamic law and militarism.
Assuring the press that once the investigation are completed the tutors will be taken to court, the minister said in August that the militants had introduced its own curriculum by producing some selective text books reflecting radical and militant agenda .
“Some of these, were confiscated as incriminating evidence,’’ he added.
In the curriculum, Al-Shabaab introduced Arabic school curricula for primary and secondary students some of which, have not only been used to recruit al Shabaab militant candidates but cement their ideals and violent teaching.
As investigations on the attempts to introduce outlawed militancy curriculum in volatile Somalia goes on to enable them go to court, back in Kenya, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Nelson Havi is in court seeking to outlaw CBC which already has millions of children in attendance.
