CBC is here to revolutionise our education – Dr. Imbunya

By Florence Omolloh and Johnson Juma

Parents have been called upon to fully understand and effectively play their role in ensuring the Competence Based Curriculum (CBC) becomes a success.

Speaking at the Kisumu Elite Academy in Manyatta during a graduation ceremony over the weekend, Dr. Jane Imbunya, Kaimosi Friends University Dean of the School of Education said unlike the 8-4-4 system which was teacher based, teachers have a big role to play under the CBC system.

Dr. Imbunya, a member of the presidential working party on education said that parents are heavily involved in CBC, ending the long-standing blame game that previously caused a rift between teachers and parents.

The new curriculum, Dr. Imbunya added, is aimed at reducing the last hour tension that was always witnessed before and during national examinations, such as the extinct Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE), and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) which is in its final year.  

“Our children in grade six are now sitting for their KPSEA exams and the beauty of it is that it doesn’t insist on the grading as the major criteria, but as a way to help them get placed accordingly,” she noted.

KPSEA stands for Kenya Primary School Education Assessment.

On his part, Kisumu Elite Academy Director Michael Oliech said they take the practical aspect of CBC very seriously, with pupils and students at the school undertaking robotic and coding lessons.

“We are one of the schools that has one of robust laboratories. We are doing robotics and coding. We procured robotics and coding materials about five years ago, and our children today are able to code and build robots,” he said.  

Mourine Akello, a parent, said CBC is proving to be a better curriculum than 8-4-4, because it is practical oriented as compared to the former system which was majorly theory based.