How nursery school teacher was hired to develop new curriculum

Pupils of Advent Hill Primary Schoolin Nairobi during the launch of the new curriculum at the KICC. (Photo: Courtesy)

Kenya is a heart-beat away from jettisoning the controversial 8-4-4 system of education that has been in existence since 1985 and replace it with a new basic education national curriculum that comprise two years of pre-primary, three years of lower primary, three years of upper primary, three years of lower secondary and finally three years of senior school.

However, as the new curriculum enters its third week of piloting stage, details are emerging that it was not conceptualised, designed and developed by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development and the Ministry of Education. According to KICD Director Dr Julius Jwan, technical support, conceptualisation, design and development of the new curriculum is the work of Peter Hall Jones. Indeed, he is the only key person mentioned by name for his work in the curriculum’s strategy blueprint ‘Basic Education Curriculum Framework’. Government ministries, development partners, as well as unnamed religious organisations, non-governmental organisations and Education Ministry consultants are said to have had some input but their proper identification has not been made.