Community Based Learning program has officially kicked off in some parts of the country just two days after it was launched. Teachers Arena has also found out more teachers are yet to register with the relevant offices for the program. However more teachers are still flocking TSC sub county offices and CSO’s offices for the registration exercise.
TSC through its circular said the CBL program will involve officials from the Ministries of Internal and Coordination of National Government and Ministry of Health to ensure its successful.
“This programme will be coordinated jointly with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government, Ministry of Health and the Teachers Service Commission,” read the circular by TSC to regional, county and sub-county directors.
However TSC insisted that Ministry of Education and Teachers Service Commission officials will coordinate and supervise the implementation of the programme while The Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government will monitor and ensure that no learner fails to participate in the programme within their jurisdiction.
Ministry of Health will be charged to support the programme by training the teachers on the MOH guidelines and protocols put in place by the Government to contain the spread of Covid-19.
In Bungoma teachers took part in CBL with pupils attending in open classes for learning. Teachers together with other ministry officials strived to ensure Covid-19 health standards are met to help prevent its spread.
The program is expected to climax starting on Monday next week when many teachers will be expected to be engaged with learners in designated places.
In some parts including Malindi and Taveta the CBL was marred with confusion as teachers lacked key details on the next move. After registration one of the teacher said he doesn’t know what next cause he wasn’t issued with any further guidelines after putting his details on paper.
Details on where learners will meet and where teachers should attend for the lessons was still missing for in many sub-counties.
TSC through a circular had issued instructions which will help in making Community Based Learning possible and interesting to learners.
TSC had said the following to teachers with regard to CBL program.
Make Learning as interactive as possible
Emphasis should be placed on modern pedagogical practices, like group work, peer feedback and blended or ‘flipped’ learning. These activities can be conducted online and may help to extend students’ attention spans.
Communicating the learning expectations to learners
There is need to have learners understand the learning expectations as there are many factors that can affect engagement in teaching from home situations (students may be living with family members who impact engagement) to technology problems (students may have older technologies or slower internet speeds) to different learning styles.
Teachers need to take these differences into account when helping their students.
Use peer-to-peer networks to your advantage
The use of peer-to-peer learning is a huge advantage in these situations.
Teachers should use discussion groups during learning and even grading can be done amongst peers.
Emphasize self-guided learning (particularly with less experienced students)
Keep students engaged during learning using approaches which take student perspectives into account. Times like these calls for innovative, creative thinking as well as the use of new approaches and digital tools which can be an asset to teaching .