CHALLENGES
Early in April, headteachers of primary schools questioned the implementation of the new curriculum which started in January in pre-primary 1 to Grade 3.
Appearing before the National Assembly’s Education Committee, Kenya Primary School Heads Association chairman Nicholas Gathemia poured cold water on the whole process – from piloting to implementation – citing several challenges.
Mr Gathemia told the committee that only two teachers were trained per school, and that it was inadequate as only two sessions were conducted and most of those trained were exiting the service.
“All teachers should be effectively trained. The training should be continuous and enhanced in teacher training colleges for the competency based curriculum to be incorporated in programmes,” he proposed on behalf of the association which has about 20,000 members.
Headteachers also said the continuous assessment of individual pupils was a nightmare. They encouraged rot assessment in the case of classes with between 60 and 100 pupils.
CAPACITY BUILDING
Mr Gathemia also informed the committee of the need to build the capacity of teachers, improve the teacher to pupil ratio and build more classes in public schools.
On the piloting of the new curriculum which was done for two years, the chairman said there was bias in the selection of pilot schools. He said those chosen in each category – rural, urban and special needs education – had the best infrastructure.
“Our prayer is that the implementation of the new curriculum and other intervention is progressive for the benefit of all,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) says it needs Sh900 million to support the training of 100,000 teachers in April, August and December.
The teachers to be trained are those of Grade 1, 2 and 3.
