Implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) is gaining momentum as most schools in the country complete preparations for grade six.
Education Cabinet Secretary, Professor George Magoha, insists that the implementation will go on until Kenyans get used to it, even as many parents complain of the curriculum being expensive.
Many parents reportedly transferred their children to public schools from private schools for fear of the private schools being discredited on grounds of not being able to deliver on the new curriculum.
The CBC involves the practical lessons being imparted on the learners who in turn put them into practice.
However, the Siaya sub-county director quality assurance standard Albert Owino, speaking at Margaret Nyandong Academy, said private schools have managed to keep up to the standards that are required to implement the CBC.
“We have assessed all the private schools and am happy to report that they have met the threshold to offer the CBC, the infrastructure, the human resource, and even the learning materials,” said Mr. Owino.
He also added, “Their teachers have also undergone the regular refresher courses and the training that is mandatory in delivering the CBC, therefore parents should never be worried their children are in safe hands and the government through the ministry of education has approved the private schools to continue.”
Other parents complained of the high cost of the private schools citing that they charge exorbitantly.
“The new curriculum is quite expensive compared to the former the schools require many things which some of us cannot manage, we, therefore, opted to transfer the children to the public schools,” said Mrs. Maureen Ongeri from Siaya town, a parent of three pupils.
Public Schools in Siaya town last year registered many new learners from the private section, this is attributed to the fear that the parents initially had.
“Many parents brought their children to join grade 2, the number was huge we had to turn away others because the classes could not contain all of them,” said one of the headteachers from a public school in Siaya town who did not want to be mentioned.
He explained that the private schools can also offer the CBC however the parents ought to support by agreeing to pay slightly higher fees.
“Compared to the public schools where the government offers a lot of things, our brothers in the private sector pay more in order to get the materials as well as pay the teachers. They have to acquire extra learning materials,” he noted.
Private schools stakeholders in some counties like Trans Nzoia continue to encourage parents and teachers to support the new curriculum because they say it will provide learners with a more competitive edge in the job market.