Chess Kenya Federation (CKF) has procured 5,000 chess boards and distributed to 200 Schools countrywide with almost all National Schools playing Chess Activity
By Roy Hezron
Chess game should be introduced as an extra-curricular activity across all school levels in Kenya, a recent report by Senate Education Committee has shown.
The committee also recommended that Chess Kenya Federation (CKF) should continuously engage all stakeholders to mobilize resources for the development and popularization of the game.
This is revealed in the Committee’s report on the petition concerning the introduction of Chess Game in the School Curriculum as a tool for Education and promotion of good health which was tabled in Senate in April 27, 2022.
The petition was filed by Fred Sagwe who heads Chess in Schools (CiS) program in the federation and a teacher from Mombasa County who revealed that in the year 2016 the Chess Kenya submitted a memoranda to the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) with the aim of including Chess education into the country’s education curriculum.
KICD also engaging with the MOE with the aim of including the game in the ministry’s calendar of activities for sports and co-curricular activities, and further engaging Teachers Service Commission (TSC) with the aim of creating a Teacher Chess Champions in education centres with all these efforts not bearing any fruits.
It’s on this basis that he prayed for Senate intervention in the matter with a view of getting recommendations for the implementation of Chess as a core and/or an elective subject in the new Competency Based Curriculum (CBC).
Other interventions that Mr. Sagwe wanted senate to recommend include budgetary allocation to support Chess in schools and other institutions of learning, recognition of Chess in the Ministry of Education (MOE) calendar for sports and co-curricular activities, and establishment of a Chess and Mathematics Foundation to empower learners to perform better in Mathematics.
However, the Committee noted in their recommendations that CKF should leverage on the collaborative engagement established and seek modalities of popularizing the game amongst school going children and other members of the public.
Further, the committee recommended that Mr. Sagwe and other residents of Mombasa County should continue engaging with the MOE and KICD in order to explore modalities on how Chess can be incorporated to assist leaners to better their performance in Mathematics in all level of schools.
In a meeting with the Committee on February 17, 2022 the petitioner Sagwe who was accompanied by CKF President Mr. Benard Wanjala and Treasurer Mr. Gilbert Wandera, and Mr. Githinji Hinga the former President of the federation; the Committee was informed that through assistance from well-wishers, the federation has procured at least 5,000 chess boards.
In conjunction with the Kenya Sports Academy they have distributed them to about 200 schools countrywide and that virtually all national schools play chess activity currently.
The Committee was also informed by the petitioners that there are over 100 teachers who are trained in Chess Kenya Foundation and over 20 of them have international certification from International Chess Federation (ICF).
According to the report the petitioners further informed that from 2015 Chess Kenya Federation has been holding annual events that have been attracting about 1,000 students and in 2018, at least 962 leaners participated in the national championship that doubled to 1,620 leaners in 2019 which was an indicator that the game is growing tremendously within the entire country.
“No teacher training college in the country offers the subject but internationally there are universities offering chess as course of study and a curriculum and pedagogy beginning from Early Childhood Education to University exist,” read the report in part.
For instance in 2012, the European Parliament made a declaration about introducing the Chess in Schools (CiS) program in the education systems of European Union (EU) member states.
The declaration called on the European Commission and member states to encourage inclusion of the programme in the member states’ education systems, and called on the European Commission to provide the necessary funding.
Other countries that have integrated Chess game in their education systems include Spain, Poland, Armenia, United Kingdom (UK), France and Israel.
The Committee observed that integrating chess as an educational tool, a curriculum subject with its own school time or as a transversal and interdisciplinary tool integrated into other curricular subjects allows the transfer of cognitive abilities to leaners.
However, in their submission to the Committee the MOE stated that they are not in position to implement Chess as a core and/or an elective subject in CBC since it is not among the approved subjects being taught in the new curriculum.
Prof. George Magoha in the submission dated April 7, 2022 had further stated that the MOE does not have budgetary and other resource requirements to support the implementation and support of Chess in schools and other institutions of learning, and such support is only channeled towards the subjects that have been processed and approved by the KICD to be included in the curriculum.
However, KICD informed the Committee that all stakeholders are free to engage with them including the Chess Kenya Federation on any innovative issues that would assist in development of curriculum and curriculum support materials.
