Kenya: Schools close next week for learners to go on holiday. Official interaction of learners with the school curriculum comes to a break for three weeks before the start of the third term.
The school curriculum is expected to ensure that each learner realises his or her potential, determine individual goals and attain them to fit in the society by leading a meaningful productive life.
A good curriculum is designed in a sensible and coherent at each level and cuts across grades from kindergarten to secondary school levels to achieve its objective.
Key features considered in designing any school curriculum include scope, sequence, integration and balance in order to produce an all round person.
The inception of 8-4-4 education system, led to teacher complains about the then a wide scope both in primary school curriculum and secondary school curriculum that could not be covered within the term dates.
Teachers embarked on holiday tuition for candidates at a fee in an attempt to cover the syllabuses in preparation for national examinations that are used to rank their schools.
The money levied motivated them as part of it ended in their pockets and other students from non-examination classes were brought on board.
The outcry of the overloaded school curriculum led to re-examination of instructional programmes both in primary and secondary schools in view of their feasibility, state of the economy and in the context of social cultural changes.
In making it manageable, examinable subjects were reduced at each level and content of most subjects adjusted without compromising the quality of education.
In spite of these good measures, teachers did not stop holiday tuition programme.
They sustained it due to the monetary gain involved; beliefs held about it and fear of poor showing in national exams. It was hitting crisis point before the State banned the practice to enable students have holidays as stipulated in the school calendar.
Teachers are trained to utilise an in-depth understanding of subject matter in their areas of specialisation and to construct meaningful learning activities and assessment for all learners as per the curriculum.
Teachers, once they value the social importance of their work and with the support of school administration, can be creative and innovative; this is part of their training, to complete their work within stipulated term dates.
Learners interacting with the school curriculum go through rigorous mental exercises as learning experiences are designed in a cyclical way to enrich and develop concepts.
Their mental faculties are actively and fully engaged with challenges that require them to stretch their minds. This sometimes leads to fatigue on the part of the students.
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Holidays that come after every three months of continuous learning are meant to allow them time to relax and play as they reflect upon what they learnt in school.
They also compare notes in a free atmosphere with other learners from various schools on their own.
Holidays provide learners with an opportunity to develop character in their homes, with the support of their parents and guardians.
It is known that after holidays, concentration levels of learners at tasks in school go up as they are rejuvenated and fresh. Learning becomes enjoyable and effective as opposed to boring and threatening when it starts in January through December every year.
Teachers, parents and school administrators should understand that forcing learners to be in school while they know they are expected to be on holiday as per the school curriculum becomes a threat to their learning.
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