It has now emerged that the giant teachers’ union is opposed to the new curriculum out of fear that it will water down the role of teachers. 

But the brief by Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) that reveals the real reason for their rejection of the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) emerges even as Parliament approved Sh2.4 billion for implementation of the new system.

The claims by Knut on inadequate teacher training, poor infrastructure, lack of legal framework and huge budgetary implications may not be at the centre of the union’s rejection of the CBC as top union leadership now cites international interference on teachers’ role in education.

A confidential report by Knut secretary general Wilson Sossion argues that CBC reforms fit into the global education reforms movement modeled around huge business interests, increasingly being rejected worldwide.

The Sossion brief to union officials argues that by reducing teachers to mere facilitators of learning, children will be allowed to learn on their own, creating what he terms ‘artificial intelligence’ in education. 

Commercial models

The Knut arguments are premised on a report by the global union of teachers –Education International (EI). Until last year, Sossion was the African representative at the Education International.

The EI findings of Pearson 2025: transforming teaching and privatising education data, warns that teachers roles in the learning process will be diminished.

Sossion said the direct supply of textbooks to schools by the government and provision of curriculum materials is a strategy towards personalising learning programmes that integrate artificial intelligence.

He argues this will open opportunities for international business interests to pilot commercial models that will affect quality of teaching and learning in Kenya.

“There is a global trend emerging which claim that too much presence of teachers in classrooms interferes with the learning and exploration of the child and therefore their roles must be reduced,” Sossion said.

It has now emerged that the giant teachers’ union is opposed to the new curriculum out of fear that it will water down the role of teachers. 

But the brief by Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) that reveals the real reason for their rejection of the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) emerges even as Parliament approved Sh2.4 billion for implementation of the new system.

The claims by Knut on inadequate teacher training, poor infrastructure, lack of legal framework and huge budgetary implications may not be at the centre of the union’s rejection of the CBC as top union leadership now cites international interference on teachers’ role in education.

A confidential report by Knut secretary general Wilson Sossion argues that CBC reforms fit into the global education reforms movement modeled around huge business interests, increasingly being rejected worldwide.

The Sossion brief to union officials argues that by reducing teachers to mere facilitators of learning, children will be allowed to learn on their own, creating what he terms ‘artificial intelligence’ in education. 

Commercial models

The Knut arguments are premised on a report by the global union of teachers –Education International (EI). Until last year, Sossion was the African representative at the Education International.

The EI findings of Pearson 2025: transforming teaching and privatising education data, warns that teachers roles in the learning process will be diminished.

Sossion said the direct supply of textbooks to schools by the government and provision of curriculum materials is a strategy towards personalising learning programmes that integrate artificial intelligence.

He argues this will open opportunities for international business interests to pilot commercial models that will affect quality of teaching and learning in Kenya.

“There is a global trend emerging which claim that too much presence of teachers in classrooms interferes with the learning and exploration of the child and therefore their roles must be reduced,” Sossion said.