President Ruto promises to address challenges facing CBC

President William Ruto has pledged to make considerable changes to the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) in an effort to ease anxiety among parents who remain skeptical about the syllabus.

As it stands, the maiden CBC class is slated to make the jump to Junior High School (JSS)  in January 2023 but former President Uhuru Kenyatta's regime wasn't as successful in setting up critical infrastructure, such as dormitories and laborotaries, that would have helped facilitate the said planned transition.

Prior to his exit from State House, Kenyatta's government only managed to commission the construction of at least two classrooms per school. The classrooms were primed to be used by the first cohort of students to join JSS in January 2023.

Staff shortages, unpreparedness of teachers and confusion in regards to the syllabus have further raised questions as to the suitability of the new CBC curriculum.

Speaking just moments after taking his oath of office on Tuesday, President Ruto noted that his administration will set up a taskforce to address the aforementioned challenges surrounding the CBC transition.

"There is a robust conversation in the country on education, in particular the implementation of the CBC curriculum. Public participation is critical in this matter. We will establish an Education Reform Taskforce in the Presidency which will be launched in the coming weeks. It will collect views from all key players in line with the constitutional demand of public participation," said President Ruto at the Moi Sports International Complex in Kasarani.

"We are particularly alive to the anxieties of parents on the twin transitions of the last 8-4-4 class and the first CBC class in January next year. I assure that there will be a solution to the matter before then."

With the President having vowed to address the current labour shortage in the Education Ministry in the days leading up to the August 9th General Election by claiming that he would appoint 116,000 tutors to supplement the country's currently available  teachers, all eyes will be on the Kenya Kwanza government as students, parents and relevant stakeholders wait for next year.