Is the new education system plausible?
Recently I stumbled upon this show by NTV "degree of doubt" where we have graduates who have graduated from different courses but fail to gain employment there harrowing stories of how they performed well in school but the hope that education was to rescue them from poverty proved infutile. They are forced to work odd jobs and still have unpaid students loans that have doubled up. There horrific narration brings into question what is the point?
We all know the importance of education. As Mandela said "education is a tool that can be used to change the world."Kenya developed the new curriculum 2-6-3-3-3 which was launched last year also referred as competence based system to address the gaps in the 8-4-4 system which has been exam oriented rather than acquiring applicable skills. The new curriculum offers to make students more competent and to focus on career and talent. Assessment will be through continuous assessments not one major exam like in the 8-4-4 system. All this is so good in the sense that students will be all rounded. They won't study for the sake of exam. The curriculum will include creative classes, physical education and added language skills like French,Germany and Arabic on top of the standard English and kiswahili. In highschool students can either major with arts subjects or science subjects to prepare them for university and the career path they will take. All this sounds so good that students will benefit from all this skills and they don't have to worry about KCPE and KCSE. The new curriculum main purpose is to bridge the gap and ensure that students will be self employed. In a country that is plagued with unemployment.
This revised system has sparked controversy, some scholars think it's good while others are skeptical. In as much as there are advantages I find myself equivocating on the whole situation whether it should be implemented or not. When you look at the downside for instance will the curriculum be successful in several schools that are congested how will a teacher teaching 60 students be able to nurture and realize the talent and abilities of each student. Learning a new language is hard and I bet it's harder teaching a new language to students who are 60 in a class. The current teachers who only know about the 8-4-4 system will have to undergo training. How will the continuous assessments be successful in a class of 60 students or more. They include science and technology as one of the subjects but most schools don't even have computers which are working. In some areas they are plagued by lack of teachers how will the new curriculum address that?
The competence based curriculum sounds good and promising in theory but implementation will need a whole new resolution in the education system from congestion of schools to addressing other issues.Nonetheless, nothing is impossible and if the implementation is successful Kenya will have one of the best education systems.
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What do you think about the new education system?
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