By Fredrick Odiero
Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) Kisumu Branch Chairperson Mr. George Opiyo has said that the Competence Based Curriculum (CBC) implementation should be fine-tuned to lessen the burden meted upon parents.
While presenting his views before the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms during a forum to collect views regarding CBC at Kisumu Girls High school, Opiyo said that the burden which came along with the implementation of the curriculum was being felt by parents more compared to other stakeholders.
Opiyo who is also the Principal of Dr. Aloo Gumbi Secondary school said that in line with the 100% transition policy and the January 2022 double intake, the congestion issue being experienced in secondary schools might escalate into a crisis.
Thus he urged the government to consider placing Junior Secondary School learners in primary school instead of secondary school as outlined earlier.
The Principal also noted that the high number of pupils occasioned by the 100% transition policy had compromised the teacher to pupil ratio in schools hence asked the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to recruit more teachers ahead of the new school term next year.
Kisumu County Executive Committee Member for Education, Mr. John Awiti questioned why the new curriculum did not include the Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) sector considering that it forms the foundation of education in a child.
Kisumu County Commissioner Josephine Ouko urged local residents to give honest views before the taskforce saying that education was the cornerstone of development in any society.
Seme Member of Parliament (MP) Dr. James Nyikal said the government should now shift focus to investing more in day schools.
He said most parents cannot afford to pay for boarding schools in the wake of hard economic times.
A number of presenters also said that the government should take over the School Feeding Programmes in order to retain pupils in schools.
The Working Party representative, Professor Collins Odette said that they had so far received 6,000 petitions across the country and lauded the high turnout exhibited so far.
