By Roy Hezron
President William Ruto has scrapped off the recently formed State Department for Implementation of Curriculum Reforms in the Ministry of Education which was headed by Principal Secretary (PS) Prof. Fatuma Chege during his recent arrangement of Ministries and State Departments.
The State Department was tasked with the responsibility of overseeing the ongoing implementation of the Competence Based Curriculum (CBC) and the roll out of the new education system including recommendations of a taskforce report.
It was unveiled by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta in February 2021 when he presided over the launch of the CBC taskforce report dubbed ‘Enhancing Access, Relevance and Quality for Effective Curriculum Reforms Implementation’ at Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi.
“In this regard, to ensure effective implementation of these recommendations and other curriculum reforms, I have on this 9th Day of February, 2021 set my hand and presidential seal and established a new State Department for Implementation of Curriculum Reforms vested in the Ministry of Education,” declared Kenyatta.
The decision raised heated debates in the Parliament which saw Members at one point opposing creation of the new State Department and declining to approve Prof. Chege’s nomination as its PS at the same time.
The MPs had argued that the creation of the Department was unnecessary because the current PS in the State Department of Early Learning and Basic Education Dr. Julius Jwan – who was the Director at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) before his appointment as PS – was competent enough to implement the curriculum reforms.
They also argued that the current Chief Administrative Secretary Dr. Sarah Ruto – who before her appointment to the position was the KICD Chairperson – had what it takes to implement CBC.
However, the then Education and Research Committee Chairperson Florence Mutua lobbied MPs to approve Prof. Chege to the position stating that failure to do so would jeopardize the implementation of CBC.
After President Ruto took over the reins of power recently, the Department has not seen the light of day leaving the Ministry with its initial three State Departments; Early Learning and Basic Education currently being held by Dr. Julius Jwan, Technical and Vocational Education Training lead by Margaret Mwakima and Higher Education and Research headed by Amb. Simon Nabukwesi.
The phasing out of the State Department can be seen as a way of avoiding duplication of functions.
The three State Departments which await their respective appointments will be among the 49 State Departments to be led by Principal Secretaries; with ministry of Education being among the five other Ministries notably Interior, Transport, Lands, Trade, and Mining; each having three PSs.
The unveiling of the State Departments comes a day after President Ruto revealed his 22-member Cabinet composition, which saw Ezekiel Machogu being nominated as Education Cabinet Secretary.
Machogu had unsuccessfully made an attempt to clinch the Kisii gubernatorial seat in the 2022 August general elections.
