Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has lauded KESSHA—a body of the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association—for its critical role in availing state agencies with information that informs strategic interventions, especially in the implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum. Addressing the 47th KESSHA Annual National Conference, Gachagua urged teachers to foster a dynamic education system for the future while ensuring that the quality of education standards among learners in all secondary schools in Kenya are maintained.
The Importance of Flexibility in Education
The Deputy President Gachagua in his speech insisted that CBC was flexible, and inclusive. This will be what will help equip students for the future by following three pathways: social science, arts, sports, and science and technology, engineering, and mathematics. He emphasized the need for an education system that creates employers rather than employees.
Government Initiatives to Support CBC Implementation
Gachagua noted clearly the commitments that the government is strongly forming in enhancing junior and senior secondary schools as growth stages for professionalism. The government has initiated huge investment in Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions to ensure a smooth progression from secondary school to higher education and skills development. The Deputy President announced that 2,000 additional tutors would be hired in the TVETs in the financial year 2023/2024 to bridge the capacity gaps. This further underscores faith by the government in TVETs regarding their predisposition to create employment in the formal sector, remaining the biggest absorptive level at over 83% of the population.
Addressing Current Challenges and Future Plans
After the MPs had passed the financial bill 2024/2025, the Deputy President observed a moment of silence for the lives lost in protests in the country within the recent past. He remarked that the country requires peace and stability as essential ingredients towards both education and economic development.
Principal Secretary for Education, Belio Kipsang’s Remarks
The Principal Secretary for Education, Belio Kipsang, attended the conference where he asked school heads to engage students more in decision-making processes so that this can help shape their futures. To Kipsang, the government acknowledges various talents available among learners, existing interests, and aspirations; hence, it would need multiple and personalized learning pathways. He insisted on the ability to concentrate on competence, inclusivity, and making sure that the system can flexibly support student potentials, including special talents and those living with special disabilities.
Emphasis on Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC)
According to Kipsang, CBC is interested in the competencies and skills to be acquired and not in direct memorization and retention of knowledge. Therefore, CBC is concerned about what learners can do with such knowledge in addressing real challenges and grasping opportunities in life. Integrating assessments and check-points assures monitoring and tracking of the learner’s progress and is adaptive to any particular student’s needs.
Future Investments in Education
The government plans to invest heavily in laboratories and other science-based learning areas in day schools, which take up 72 percent of the learning environment in this country. Kipsang addressed the delay in capitation allocation, saying it would be Sh.22,000 henceforth for improved funding and resourcing of schools.