The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has been faulted for failing to train teachers on the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
MPs Hillary Kosgei (Kipkelion West), Joseph Limo (Kipkelion East), Wilson Sossion (nominated) and former lawmakers Langat Magere and Jackson Rop faulted the quality of training conducted by TSC.
The MPs questioned the implementation of the new curriculum set to be rolled out in Secondary Schools next year claiming that Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha was bulldozing through an education system that was bound to fail due poor implementation.
“We have repeatedly raised the grey areas in implementation of the CBC but as unionists, professional teachers and leaders, but the government has closed all its doors that would have addressed the issues. We are confidents that a new government will correct the anomalies at the end of this year,” said nominated MP Wilson Sossion.
Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Secretary-General Collins Oyuu said that the country is facing a serios shortage of teachers, a matter that needs intervention by Parliament to allocate funds to TSC to employ more than 30,000 trained tutors.
“It’s unfortunate that the ministry has focused on expanding infrastructure but neglecting training of teachers,” he said.
Speaking after a meeting with Narok County, Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) Secretary General Akello Misori said public participation was not conducted before implementation of the curriculum.
“The 8-4-4 system had challenges that were not addressed. We cannot jump into another programme that has glaring issues. We must ensure we get it right from the beginning so as to build the people’s confidence in the education system,” said Kuppet vice-chairman Julius Korir.
TSC plans to train the first batch of 60,000 teachers when schools close next month.
According to TSC boss Nancy Macharia, 229, 292 primary school teachers from both public and private schools for Grades One to Five and 1,166 tutor from different colleges have already been trained.