Kenyans divided on CBC system report

Grade three learners at Murema Primary School. [File, Standard]

Half of Kenyans support the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), a survey shows.

However, they feel CBC is burdensome to parents and something should be done to remedy the situation, according to the survey conducted by Twaweza.

According to James Ciera, Country Lead for Twaweza in Kenya, the research highlighted the hidden demands placed on parents.

"When asked what should change about the current implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum, more than half of citizens (54 per cent) cited reducing the cost to parents," Ciera said.

The report dubbed 'what we teach our children', conducted from November 3-17, last year sampled, sampled 3,000 respondents.

President William Ruto recently said the government will look into the cost of implementing the new system.

"I know there were suggestions from majority of parents and stakeholders that the burden of cost on delivery of CBC, especially on parents, should be reduced and I think the committee will finally give us a report, and as the government we are going to look at it," he said.

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Twaweza's report also raises issues on teacher preparedness.

Teachers Service Commission CEO Nancy Macharia had earlier indicated that by end of last year, 60,000 teachers had been retooled while an additional 30, 000 would be retrained before April this year.

Other factors impeding seamless implementation of CBC is the burden on students in terms of assignment.

Ruto said many parents wanted to be offloaded of what they called 'burden of homework'.

The president however urged them not to run away from their responsibilities.

"Let us not dump our children in school and forget about them, it is our responsibility to follow through with their education. Is not too much to ask of us by our children,'' he said.

Ruto urged parents to spare time to help in the upbringing of their children as this would help follow up on their progress.

"I want to ask all parents, including myself, that we must dedicate time every day to follow up on the education of our children. Help them with homework so that you can monitor their progress," Ruto said.

Ruto further noted that leaving children to teachers alone is not right.

"Parents suggested that they should do less for the education of their children and that children are taking a lot of their time in the evening but I want to suggest respectfuly that as parents, me included, we must know that the education of our children is not the responsibility of teachers alone, it is ours as well,'' Ruto said.

Although a majority of Kenyans know about CBC, they say more resources and equipment will go a long way in improving education.

Kenyans are optimistic that the Prof Raphael Munavu-led committee will achieve its intended objectives.

"We are calling for an inclusive public dialogue with emphasis on citizens' views that can inform the working party's deliberations. It is critical that the often-neglected opinions of parents come to the fore of this important public reform," said Ciera.

The panel for the research was established through random sampling from a database of contacts from previous surveys.