The grade 10 admission challenges facing the education sector are being caused by the lack of piloting of the competency-based education curriculum before full roll-out.
According to a former assistant minister for education and a long-standing curriculum development expert, Dr. Gilbert Oluoch, the government erred by hurriedly implementing the CBE before carrying out pilot programs that would have flagged challenges.
Speaking at the Maranda educational center in Bondo subcounty, Siaya, Dr. Oluoch, however, urged the government not to revert to the 8-4-4 system but instead face the challenges head-on with a focus on making the CBE succeed.
“8-4-4 has succeeded in fulfilling its purpose, which was to create manpower to fill the positions that had been left by expatriates who left the country at independence,” said Dr. Oluoch, a one-time member of parliament for Bondo, adding, “Now graduates from bachelor’s degree holders to Ph.D. holders are all over, but there are no jobs for them.”
He said that CBE has come at the right time to produce job creators, adding that all Kenyans must support it.
Dr. Oluoch called on the government to devote more resources if the new curriculum was to succeed.
“Change in education is not cheap. It is expensive. The challenges must be faced instead of retreating,” he said.
Dr. Oluoch is a career educationist who, at independence, was amongst the first Africans to hold key positions in the Ministry of Education alongside others, including Dr. Gikonyo Kiano, Kenneth Matiba, and John Michuki.
He served in different capacities in the Ministry and was, at one time, the director of education before delving into politics during the late president Moi’s time. He was the Bondo MP from 1988 to 1992.
By Philip Onyango
