The 8-4-4 system has been accused of giving a ‘one size fits all’ solution for formal education. Some families feel that this approach is not working for them, and have sought alternatives. LYDIA LIMBE spoke to some of them
Mercy Omukhango like most parents, took her daughter to a public school. As is common with the 8-4-4 system, her ten-year-old daughter, Abia, would come home with piles of homework and the earliest she would go to bed is 11:00pm.
Mercy noticed that her daughter was always exhausted, and that all the academic work was not adding into Abia’s creative interest.
“I’d noticed that my daughter is hands on, and very good at making things with her hands. Initially, I did not know how to go about helping her nurture this talent, until a friend suggested home-schooling,” Mercy says.
There has been a lot of debate on the 8-4-4 system, with many educationists calling for reforms to the curriculum.
“The curriculum, as it is being implemented, has too much emphasis on passing exams. There’s too much pressure on the child to perform academically, while other intelligences are not taken care of,” points out Dr Mary Runo, chairperson of the Department of Special Needs at Kenyatta University.
She says the curriculum does not allow the child to create or expand their minds — allowing them to think freely and challenge the knowledge they are receiving.
Many parents, like Mercy, who realise that there is potential in their child that academics alone cannot harness, opt for international curriculums available in Kenya.
Special needs
Miriam Warorwa is one such parent. She has a 17-year-old son, Martin who has Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). The 8-4-4 system does not cater for children like Martin, who have special needs, and he was often clustered with the mentally challenged.
Driven by her deep-seated conviction that her son was talented and only needed the right nurturing, she started looking for alternatives and came across Grangeville School, a British curriculum school specialising in teaching children with special needs like Martin’s.
“We realised that children with special needs such as dyslexia, ADHD and autism, amongst others, were neglected in Kenya, yet with individualised instruction and a friendly curriculum, all children can learn,” says John Runo, the principal of Grangeville School.
“Before we accept the child, we assess them to determine their learning needs. Then we craft individualised learning methods that suit the child. Most of the time, we have to get creative and use unconventional means to teach them.”
Miriam says that since her son joined Grangeville, he has sharpened his interest in the culinary arts.
“I had noticed that he had an interest in cooking; he was always in the kitchen whenever I was making a meal. But I was always jittery at the thought of letting him do anything in the kitchen, for fear he could get burnt or cut, or get involved in other accidents.
“The teachers also noticed his interest, and encouraged him to follow his passion. Now he can cook, bake, and can even budget for the meal he’s preparing,” Miriam adds proudly.
The principal adds that aside from the curriculum being friendly to children with special needs, the extra curriculum is also considered during grading, and assessment is continuous.
“During examinations, the British curriculum allows for a reader if the child has difficulty in reading, as well give additional time to the child who is slow. We apply the unconventional teaching methods because our aim is to nurture their talents and groom them into being independent,” he says.
Mercy, on the other hand, decided to try home-schooling, and took her daughter out of ‘normal’ school.
“I learnt of the Accelerated Christian Education (Ace) home-schooling programme and conducted some research on what it involved. I was drawn to this system of education because it allows the child to learn at their own pace, and it also gave us time to find ways of nurturing Abia’s talents,” she explains.
To be accepted into an Ace programme, the child is assessed to find out which grade they fit in. Then guidelines for the coursework are given for that year, usually referred to as paces. There are 12 paces.
“Depending on how fast the child is, he or she can move to the next pace very fast. Abiah and I do the classwork in the morning and use the afternoons to pursue her other interests,” adds Mercy.
“Abia goes for swimming, piano lesson and vocal classes. She loves to make jewellery, so we’ve encouraged her to start her own business, and she saves the money she earns in her account. She makes beads for bridal teams for our friends, and has even sold some of her wares abroad,” adds the beaming mother.
Oaks Academy is the centre for the Ace curriculum in Kenya. It is where all the training is conducted for parents, and guardians who are interested in home-schooling their children. It also provides teaching material and has a library where they can get reference books.
Life skills
Other systems of education available in Kenya include the German, French, and American ones.
The French curriculum is offered at the Lycée Denis Diderot de Nairobi. It is highly academic, with students choosing at the A-levels to major in literature, science or social economics. Classes are conducted in English and French.
Joanne Skelton from the school says that aside from academics, they are also taught life skills, and engaged in civic education to enable them understand their government and how it is structured.
“Extra-curricular activities are assessed separately from academics, and on completion of the equivalent of the O-levels, they undergo a three-day placement at a company to nurture their specific career interests,” Joanne says.
Franke Ibe, the deputy headteacher of The German School in Nairobi, says the German curriculum’s intention is to encourage the child to think for themselves, and it caters for different abilities.
“After selection of learners based on ability, we design lessons according to the students’ needs and even set different exams for them. A lot of our teaching technic is group work, and we encourage them to put the content into context. We emphasise conversation skills before grammar skills,” Franke says.
The language of instruction is English and German. Aside from academics, which are the main focus in the mornings, extra-curricular activities such as the arts and music are also taught.
Students are also introduced to the ‘world of work’, where they are taught life skills such as letter writing, woodwork, and metal work, amongst others.
