SERIES 8

CURRICULUM REFORMS IN KENYA

Frequently Asked Questions on

CBC
1. Why do we need education reforms Kenya?
• Society is dynamic. There is transformation in social political,
technological and economic aspects of life. Therefore we need a
curriculum to equip learners with the 21st century skills.
2. Where are we in terms of teacher preparedness?
• Induction and training of teachers has been ongoing.
• More than 22,000 PP1, PP2 and grades 1-3 teachers and MOE
officers have been inducted on implementation of CBC.
• Over 91,000 teachers were trained on CBC in April 2019.
• 1,163 Curriculum support officers have been trained on CBC to
offer support to teachers.
3. What informed the proposal to change from 8-4-4 to 2-6-3-3?
Why didn’t we just improve 8-4-4 system of education?
• Summative evaluation of the 8-4-4 curriculum (KICD, 2009)
and Needs Assessment Report (KICD 2016) revealed that the
curriculum was examination oriented, emphasized
coverage of content, little emphasis on skill development
and application.
• Students who completed the system had little acquisition
of critical 21st century skills.
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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
• Additionally, values and soft skills were not being exhibited in the
behaviour of Kenyans therefore raising the need for their emphasis
as required by Chapter 6 of the Constitution.
• The Task force on realignment of education to the Kenya Constitution
2010 and global standards recommended a competency-based
curriculum.
4. Has public participation and stakeholder engagement been part
and parcel of this important process?
• Kenyans have been given an opportunity to interrogate, critique
and provide feedback on CBC.
• During the Needs Assessment of 2016, Kenyan were asked to
present their views orally or through memoranda.
• KICD has conducted a number of Stakeholder Engagement with
stakeholders who include Teachers unions, faith based organizations,
Publshers, and Universities.
• Two National conferences have been held to discuss CBC.
• County Dialogue on CBC held at Counties.
5. There is this talk that the CBC advocates for comprehensive sex
education. Please clarify.
• No. Comprehensive sex education is not advocated in the CBC.
6. Clarify concerns that more teachers and more classrooms
besides other infrastructure will be needed for a smooth
implementation of the CBC.
• Government advocates for free basic education and 100% transition.
Therefore more teachers will be employed and classrooms
constructed.
• This is one of the issues being addressed by a recently constituted
Task Force on Enhancing Access, Relevance, Transition, Equity and
Quality for effective curriculum reforms implementation.
7. What is your take on claims that the duration for teacher
 training is short?
• Training on CBC is a continuous process for purposes of enhancing
capacity of teachers based on identified needs.
8. How true is the claim that those training teachers are
incompetent?
• This claim is not TRUE. CBC is being implemented by teachers who
have been trained as required. The teachers are implementing
CBC without difficulties.
• Training of teachers for CBC has been conducted using the
cascade model. Master trainers are drawn from KICD, KNEC, TSC,
CEMASTEA, KISE and KEMI.
• The master trainers train TOTs who are curriculum support officers
(CSOs) and champion teachers from across the country.
9.The CBC is being implemented in phases starting with Early
Years Education-Pre-Pry 1 and 2 and Grade 1-3). Why this
approach?
• CBC is being implemented on a phase in phase out model.
• This gives room for learners of class 4 and above in the 8-4-4
curriculum to continue their studies uninterrupted
• The phases approach also is meant to enhance quality and pave
way for continuous monitoring and where necessary come up
with appropriate interventions.
10. What progress is being made to prepare students
in teacher training institutions for the task ahead, given that
they will teach the new curriculum?
• A number of lecturers in Teachers Training colleges and Deans of
Schools of Education in Universities have been inducted on the
implementation of CBC.
• Ministry of education Agencies are in the process of training
college lecturers on CBC.
• KICD is in the process of reforming Pre- Service teacher education
curriculum in line with CBC.
• Deans of schools of education in Universities have been inducted
on CBC. Discussions on realignment of University teacher training
programmes with CBC are in progress.
11. Parents are being asked to purchase expensive equipment
like computers and printers for their children. Please clarify.
• CBC advocates for use of locally available resources. CBC
encourages innovations, originality, imagination and creativity in
carrying out tasks.
• Schools are encouraged to use the already provided ICT equipment
under the digital literacy programme.
• The designs suggests learning experiences. However, the
implementation of those experiences remains at the disposal of
the implementor who should contextualize to available resources.
12. What is your take on claims that this CBC is a great idea
whose implementation is being rushed?
• The CBC implementation is not being rushed.
• The journey of CBC started in 2009 (summative evaluation of 8-4-
4).
• Task force on re-alignment of Education Sector to constitution of
Kenya 2010 recommended CBC.
• Research and Bench Marking of Curriculum reform have been
ongoing since 2012.
• Needs assessment for CBC Conducted in march 2016.
• Piloting of CBC started in May, 2017 to December, 2018.
• Roll out of CBC commenced in January, 2019.
• Implementation of CBC adopts phase in phase out model therefore
not rushed.
KENYA INSTITUTE OF CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
Desai Road, Off Thika Rd., P.O. Box 30231 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya.
Telephone : +254 (020) 374 9900 - 5, +254 729 327 334/31
Email : [email protected], [email protected]
Website : www.kicd.ac.ke Facebook: KICDKenya Twitter: @KICDKenya