As the world marks the Day of the African Child, the Kenyan government has been urged to ensure the alignment of higher education curricula to the Competence Based Curriculum to allow learners to have skills of the 21st century labour market.
Call to Action for Education Stakeholders
Pascal Mailu who is the Director of National Programmes for SOS Children’s Villages Kenya, argued for a multi-stakeholder approach to education as a preparation for African children to respond to current work needs. He argued that CBC is considered a beacon that was important for the acquisition of knowledge on setting the pace for learners to excel in a technical and digital work environment.
CBC: A Beacon of Knowledge Acquisition
In defining the CBC, Mailu referred to it as a beehive of learning and went further to explain its relevance in addressing emerging technical digital work challenges. He mentioned that merging the CBC with higher education was crucial for Kenya to remain relevant and effective in the education system.
Investment in Infrastructure and ICT
In his speech, Mailu singled out that there was a need to step up investments in physical and ICT infrastructure in the education sector. There was also a call for strong stakeholder engagement to guarantee that the CBC model had been well implemented in all levels of the learning process.
Addressing Inequalities
Mailu further explained that equal distribution of infrastructure, facilities, and teachers among the various regions was one of the major challenges for the existing educational approach. According to him, it is an issue that needs to be solved to assure the youth and children’s learning of the skills necessary to function appropriately in the new, emerging world.
Ensuring Equal Distribution of Resources
Mailu underlined the danger of deepening regional differences in case inequalities were not handled, which would unjustly leave many children if not all and the youth at a disadvantage in coping with the challenges of the modern world. He called for all-inclusive distribution of resources where all children not just a select few, could be guaranteed quality education toward coping with the complexities of the 21st century.
Unified Campaigns for Every Child’s Potential
Mailu urged for integrated campaigns that would harness the potential in each child. In fact, he acknowledged that such combined action was needed to be able to guarantee every child in Africa has access to education enabling them face future challenges. He also added that the approach would create a labor force that will be quite knowledgeable and one that will be well skilled to respond to the call of the modern job market.