By Our Reporter
Private schools owners from Nyamira and Kakamega counties have given their two cents on the ensuing debate on the viability of the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) saying that it recognizes the talents of individual pupils from an early stage.
Led by Charles Onsongo Mochama, those from Nyamira county said that the Curriculum should be adopted since it enabled learners to specialize in their competences.
He said that with the adoption of the system, the country will have enough employable graduates thus sufficient manpower by 2030.
“This system factors in the training of competent people, giving them the ability to work anywhere in the world,” argued Mochama.
Mochama who is the proprietor of Seth Hill and Imperial Academies, one of the top performing schools in KCPE in both Nyamira and Kisii counties, revealed that many countries offered studies based on the Curriculum.
While rubbishing claims from some parents that the system was costly, he mentioned the US, South Africa, the Netherlands and New Zealand as some of the countries that have thrived in the CBC system.
“The Curriculum is not expensive in the long run because it encourages improvisation and fetches materials from the immediate environment,” he said.
The sentiments were echoed by their counterparts from Kakamega who threatened to adopt the International Curriculum if the government scraps the system.
The private schools directors led by Everlyne Tiaty said that CBC was relevant to the country because it provided solutions for unemployment as it enhanced job creation.
“The system is useful because it enables the learner to advance their skills and knowledge quickly,” she said.
Ms. Tiaty noted that the system had already trained pupils up to Grade 6 in skills such as art, weaving and cooking which had ready market in the country and abroad.
“CBC is a game-changer. Let parents allow our children to grow holistically in it unlike in the 8-4-4 system which emphasized on cognitive skills only,” she observed.
The directors thus appealed to the President to consider the well-being of the pupils by maintaining the system.
Their request comes after some political leaders and parents called for the abolition of the Curriculum claiming that it was costly thereby impoverishing parents.
