Ruto promises to deal with CBC second week after swearing in

Ruto promises to deal with CBC second week after swearing in

The President elect has promised to deal with the headache that come with the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) second week after officially taking the leadership mantle.

Speaking in Bungoma, Dr William Ruto said he understands what parents are going through and that he will with the headache.

“Na hiyo mambo ya CBC….Ati mnaangaika kufanya homework. Ati mnafanya homework paka saa sita usiku. Liwe liwalo jumapili ya pili tutaanza kushughulikia hii maneno,” Ruto said amid applause.

Ruto also said he will lower the cost of living immediately he takes office. He said he will implement everything as he promised during the campaigns.

His swearing has been delayed by Azimio One Kenya as well as eight other petitions which seek to overturn his victory.

The Supreme court will start hearing the cases tomorrow Tuesday and give its verdict by 5th September.

CBC is now in grade 6 and heading to junior secondary early next year. Recently the Education CS Prof. George Magoha said no government will dare even think of removing the curriculum.

He spoke last week at Moi Girls High School in Eldoret during the inspection of junior secondary classes.

“The current government has invested a lot of resources in CBC and with more than 10 million children having been enrolled, the next regime can’t think of abolishing it,” said Prof Magoha.

He dispelled fears that boarding schools will be removed in favour of day institutions, noting that both have a role in the implementation of the CBC programme.

“We shall always have boarding schools since they have a place in our society, especially national schools which have performed well. There is no way the boarding schools will be scrapped at the expense of CBC,” said Prof Magoha.

According to Prof Magoha, if CBC will be scrapped then money pumped into implementing the curriculum would have gone to waste.

In preparation for transition to junior secondary schools, Prof Magoha said more than 90 per cent of the classrooms are complete to accommodate the learners.

He expressed hope that all classrooms will be ready before the transition period in January next year.

“I have just inspected the commissioning of two excellent CBC classrooms here at Moi Girls, the majority of schools are at 90 per cent in construction of CBC classrooms while in Central Kenya, about 100 per cent of the classes have been constructed,” said Prof Magoha.

He challenged contractors to hasten the completion of the remaining classrooms within the stipulated time frame.

The CS refuted claims that some pupils transiting to junior secondary have been denied the opportunity to choose schools outside their counties.

“Children are free to choose schools they want especially those eying prestigious national schools,” said Prof Magoha.

He, however, urged pupils to consider schools near their homes so that they can be close to their parents.

“The CBC is steering learners away from exam-oriented learning and equipping them with skills that will enable them to handle various challenges in life,” added the CS.

The 2-6-3-3 system of education was unveiled in 2017 to replace 8-4-4.

Magoha said some 116,024 secondary school teachers are targeted for the Grade Nine training this year.

During the campaign period Ruto promised a number of things to teachers and education industry as highlighted below.

1. Ruto promised to hire all unemployed teachers within two years

There are approximately over 300,000 teachers who are yet to be absorbed into the TSC payroll.

Ruto has also promised to hire all the unemployed teachers within two years. He said his government will employ 50% of them during the first year and the remaining 50% in the following year.

He promised Sh25 billion for the transfer and hiring of more teachers mainly in marginalised areas.

Dr Ruto said this would be implemented in two phases beginning the first year that the UDA government takes over.

“For each phase, we will hire 58,000 teachers beginning next year when we form the government, to close that gap,” Dr Ruto said.

2. Ruto said his government will pay for TPD training

During his manifesto launch at the Moi Sports Centre Kasarani, Nairobi, Ruto said his government will pay for the controversial teacher training programme popularly known as TPD.

3. Ruto said he will end teacher delocalization policy and pay those affected

He said he will stop teachers being forced to work outside their home counties. Those who will be delocalized will be paid hardship allowance.

According to TSC latest policy, teachers working in North Eastern region are required to have completed at least three years before they are transferred back to their home counties.

Teachers in other regions are required to work for at least five years before they are considered for transfer to their homes.

“The teacher must have served in a station for a period of not less than three years and five years for North Eastern and other areas respectively since first appointment; unless otherwise authorized by the Commission’s Secretary,” read the new guidelines in part.

However when Ruto takes power only those willing will be delocalized. Again those who will be delocalized will be paid for it.

“The domesticated teacher recruitment and deployment at entry-level will be per the UNESCO teacher deployment practice which treats education as culture process conducted within a people’s culture context at the local level,” he said.

4. Ruto said his government will review the CBC curriculum

During the campaigns some Kenya Kwanza brigades led by Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetangula said they will scrap CBC if they take power.

However the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) presidential candidate William Ruto said his government will not scrap CBC but rather strengthen it by encouraging further engagements with parents, teachers and other stakeholders.

Dr Ruto promised to review the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) to address current challenges identified by teachers and parents.

He said a Kenya Kwanza government would rely on the curriculum review by Unesco to seal gaps that have been pointed out.

“We commit to continue our robust engagement with the public to facilitate the assessment of the current curriculum and education structure towards finding a sustainable solution that will capture the essence of a knowledge-based system,” Dr Ruto said.

“The conversation we want to have is, that we are now five years into CBC. The Unesco guidelines give us the latitude that every five years we have to review the education curriculum and this is the moment. We have had concerns from parents, teachers, and various stakeholders,” he added.

5. Ruto promised free internet connection for all primary and secondary schools

Ruto promised to connect all learning institutions, which include primary and secondary schools, in the country with free internet if he is declared the fifth president of Kenya.

Ruto promised a special service tariff for water, electricity and internet connection in all learning institutions to make education affordable.

6. Ruto promised to complete construction of TVET institutions

Ruto said if he wins presidency he will complete construction of TVET institutions in the remaining 250 wards.

Dr Ruto said his administration would focus on infrastructure development of institutions since “education is the greatest enabler of the bottom-up economic model.”

He pledged to complete 250 vocational institutes across the country and an additional 52 TVETs within two years.

7. Ruto promised to introduce free school feeding programme in all public schools

He promised free school feeding programme in primary and secondary schools.

8. Ruto promised to scrap Helb and TVET funding and introduce National Skills and Funding Council

He said the existing funding model for higher education that consolidates universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) funding board and Helb, will be collapsed and a funding council formed dubbed the National Skills and Funding Council.

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