Dispute hits new curriculum as Knut’s survey irks teachers employer

Kenya National Union of Teachers Secretary General Wilson Sossion. [Photo, Standard]

A row is looming over teacher preparedness for implementation of the new curriculum, months after the national roll out kicked off.

A teachers’ union has kicked off a nationwide survey to directly get teachers responses on curriculum implementation, even as the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) revealed that adequate plans are in place.

Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) is seeking to establish the level of teacher preparedness in promoting learning under the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) in primary schools.

It also wants to determine the availability and adequacy of instructional material for the implementation of the CBC.

In addition, Knut is seeking to establish the extent of teacher-parents engagements on the CBC implementation.

The detailed survey also intends to explore challenges faced in implementing the new curriculum.

However, Ministry of Education officials have dismissed the Knut survey, saying it has not stated the level of teachers targeted by their exercise.

A ministry official said so far, teachers in pre-primary one to grade III are the only ones implementing the new curriculum. “Any survey outside that bracket is irrelevant data,” said the senior official.

Appearing before the National Assembly Education Committee, TSC said teacher training is a process, not an event.

During last week’s meeting with MPs, TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia tabled a status report on teacher preparedness for CBC implementation complete with data. The report reveals that so far, some 278,220 teachers have undergone training at various stages. Mrs Macharia said under phase one, some 79,760 pre-primary school teachers were trained within the 2017/18 financial year.

Another 96,522 primary school teachers were trained during the same period.

Kicked off

Also trained were 3,360 regional trainers, 507 trainers of trainers and 71 master trainers who kicked off the process.

“The training adopted the cascade mode,” said Macharia.

She said during training, curriculum support officers visit schools weekly to carry lesson observation and provide instructional advisory services to teachers.

Under phase two, which took place between December 17 and 21 last year, Macharia said 98,000 primary school teachers were trained.

“Phase three, four and five will be carried out in April, August and December this year and will involve 110,000 teachers for grade 1, 2, 3 and 4 once TSC has received funds from treasury,” she said.

TSC projects that during the scheduled April, August and December holiday training, some Sh879 million will be required.

The ministry urgently requires Sh3.5 billion to roll out the new 2-6-6-3 curriculum that began this year.

Sunday Standard has learnt that the money will go towards capacity development of staff, developing curriculum designs and support material and orientation of ministry officers.

Information seen by Sunday Standard however reveals that some Sh500 million is needed to build the capacity as well as mentor and support teachers implementing the early years’ education learning.

Evaluation standards

A similar amount of money is needed to develop standards and evaluation of digital content for grade 4-12.

Another Sh470 million is needed to develop curriculum support materials for piloting Grade 4-12.

Development of curriculum designs for Grade 4-12 has been estimated to cost some 600 million, with another Sh100 million for monitoring and evaluation.

The highest budget will however go towards the evaluation of print curriculum support materials for Grade 4-12, which is estimated to cost Sh1 billion.

Other activities such as orientation of ministry officials at the county and sub-county levels and digital orientation of teachers’ programmes will cost between Sh30 and Sh50 million.

Even with these developments, Knut is not convinced with the level of teachers’ preparedness.

“Although the curriculum has been rolled out nationally in all primary schools (pre-primary to grade 3) it is evident that the challenges identified on the CBC implementation by the internal evaluation report and other education stakeholders have not been fully addressed,” reads the Knut report.

Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed has defended implementation of the CBC, saying development of support materials for the early years has been completed and teachers for the affected classes trained. “Core textbooks for pre-primary I and II and Grade 1, 2, 3 have already been approved by the KICD and distributed to schools,” said Amina. Some 32 million textbooks have already been distributed in schools, she said.

Last week, Amina dispatched 21,987 Early Grade Mathematics learners’ books and teachers’ guides adapted for learners with Special Needs Education (SNE) in public primary schools.

But Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion insisted that the outcome of the survey will inform the position the union will take in the ongoing roll out of the new curriculum.

“We are for professionalism and we want things done right because this is about the future of our children,” said Sossion.

The survey has also roped in head teachers and union executive secretaries. “The purpose of the study is to establish teacher preparedness on implementation of the CBC in primary schools in Kenya,” the survey report says.

In the survey, Knut wants teachers to state whether they have been trained on their role in the implementation process.

Knut also seeks to establish whether teachers were trained on key competencies, application of teaching approaches, expected learning outcomes, developing life values in the learners and learning resources to be used per strand/sub-strand.

It also wants the teachers to state whether they were taught on assessment methods, how to assess learning, how to assess individual learners and grading assignments.

In addition to these, teachers will state whether they were trained on material development, lesson planning and preparation of schemes of work.

What will however be the key determinant is how teachers will respond to questions like those asking whether they fully understand all the components of the competency-based curriculum.

Knut also wants teachers to state whether they fully understand the teacher’s role in the CBC implementation, if they are conversant with all the learning areas in the CBC and if they fully understand the teaching approaches to be applied in the different learning areas.

Moving forward, TSC proposes to continuously mount in-service programmes to guide the teachers, curriculum support officers and other officers.

TSC says it will undertake advocacy and awareness raising programmes for parents and communities in all schools to strengthen participation and support for the CBC based on the parental empowerment.

Overall, TSC also says it will ensure course books and teachers guides are available on time and encourage teachers to utilise the available teaching and learning materials.

Knut, however, wants teachers to directly state whether they have been given teaching and learning resources.

Specifically, Knut wants teachers to indicate whether they have the approved pupils course books on the literacy activities, language activities, Kiswahili language, Kenyan sign language and mathematical activities.

Teachers will also indicate whether they have hygiene and nutrition activities approved books and movement and creative activities approved pupils course books.

Also in the survey is whether teachers have playing materials, manila papers, chalks, marker pens, crayons, permanent classrooms, learners desks and chairs and teachers desks and chairs.

TSC says existing facilities in schools will be used for the implementation of the CBC in the early years education.

“The classroom sitting arrangement will be reorganised using the infrastructure currently available to allow collaborative learning among the learners,” reads TSC report.

Additional facilities will be required for grades 7-17 with the introduction of pathways.

“This will be required in the next five years to come,” TSC report says.