Ruto promises to review CBC in Kenya Kwanza Education plan

Ruto, however, notes that the Competency-Based Curriculum would need to be reviewed to accommodate concerns from parents, teachers as well as stakeholders in the Education sector.

"As Kenya Kwanza, we support the progression from what we had as knowledge and exam-based education, only, to the new format of knowledge, skills and competence as well as value-based education," said Ruto.

He added: "The conversation we want to have is, we are now five years into CBC. 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, various stakeholders..."

The DP was speaking on Thursday in Nairobi during the unveiling of the Kenya Kwanza coalition 'Education Charter' which Ruto promises to implement as part of his manifesto should he become president after the upcoming August elections.

At the forum, Ruto and Kenya Kwanza leaders engaged members of the public and education stakeholders on how to have an education system that is accessible to all, affordable and relevant to the kind of human capital needed for the economy to grow.

"This discussion is going to be largely about how do we achieve universal access; how do we make sure our education is relevant so that we can use it to tackle the challenges of our time, how do we make our education much more affordable for the majority and how do we get quality education where we don't have half-baked people," said Ruto.

Concerns around the implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) which is currently at Grade 6 include additional costs, inadequate training among teachers, limited number of staff, stretched learning facilities among others.

A section of political leaders allied to Ruto's political camp have been critical of the CBC raising concerns that his administration may abolish the new curriculum.

Nominated MP and former Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary-General Wilson Sossion on Thursday claimed that the rollout of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) has been to the disadvantage of public schools.

Speaking on Citizen TV’s Day Break show, Sossion said replacing the 8-4-4 curriculum with the new education system was rushed and state-owned schools are struggling to keep up.