The competency-based Curriculum (CBC) plays a vital role in providing flexible education pathways where students are assisted and not taught with more focus on their own ability to acquire skills.
It places emphasis on a paradigm shift of pedagogical practices from teacher-centered approaches to learner-centered approaches in which the focus is leveled towards competency instead of content.
More emphasis is on the outcome while deviating from the summative evaluation which is mostly biased to a formative assessment which is indeed a serious continuous assessment and follow-up to the learning process.
Junior High School is still at the rudimentary stage having transitioned from Early Childhood and primary education.
It has experienced a number of gaps like capacity building, which was done through the famous, ‘Retooling Programme’ where fears and expectations were adequately addressed.
Other than that, we have staffing gaps, large enrollment, number of subjects, administration, and school personnel which are systematically being addressed by the Teachers Service Commission and the Ministry of Education.
The Teachers Service Commission has engaged high-level technocrats who play an important advisory role on some of the pending issues that are likely to frustrate Junior high School learning and administration.
It’s important to have these steps done speedily because next year which is only a few months away, an additional class will be in place and more personnel will be needed.
The Junior high School teachers are indeed the door-way to the success of the new education system, both the teachers, administrators and learners are also the first-born children of the Competency-Based Curriculum and as such it’s important to motivate them so that the new system can be a success story.
Last year, a total of over 1.2 Million learners sat for the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) exams and therefore there will be a need to have additional classrooms next year and even employ more teachers to contain the students surging numbers.
Other facilities that demand urgent intervention include Laboratories, workshops, Libraries, textbooks, learning materials and psychosocial preparedness.
It’s important to underscore the significant role played by the Teachers Service Commission in censoring the personnel that would subsequently handle Junior high school learners.
The teachers’ employer ensured that the teachers handling senior high School education were not different from the ones handling Junior high School to avoid a scenario where the quality of teaching is compromised.
Notably, some of these teachers have gradually advanced with the CBC from ECDE to where it is now and have had a wonderful experience with the setbacks and resolutions of the very system and that’s why they responded admissibly to the call of the employer to get redeployed from Primary to Junior high school.
It’s sad to note that most workers in Kenya today did not get the rightful vocation because they were not given an opportunity to explore their talents.
Additionally, University and college students prefer courses that have a higher probability of employment and not necessarily where they performed well.
At this level, a very vital step would be identifying administrators, and motivating them and these are people who will give a new impetus to meaningful learning.
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