Deputy President William Ruto has changed his tune on the new Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) noting that it needs assessment to accommodate everybody concerns.
Speaking at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa while launching his education blueprint, Ruto praised the system saying it had transformed the education system from exam based to skills, competence, and value-based.
“I want to say from the onset that the graduation that has taken place from the knowledge and exam-based education to know knowledge, competence, skills-based and value is the right trajectory. It is very important to understand that as Kenya Kwanza we support the progression from what we had as the exam-based format only to the new skills and knowledge,” said Ruto.
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.
Close allies of the Kenya Kwanza coalition leader had initially vowed to scrap the education system if elected the president arguing that it was confusing and costly to common Kenyans.
Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi previously said the CBC system was implemented without adequate consultations with stakeholders, making it a burden to parents.
He promised that it would be scrapped once Ruto ascended to the highest office in the land.
“The controversial system will be scrapped once the Ruto/Mudavadi government takes power in August,” he said on February 6.
Ford-Kenya leader Moses Wetang’ula stated that the system was frustrating students, teachers, and parents, and Ruto’s administration would do away with it.
“There is something frustrating for students, teachers and parents called CBC. We will do away with this curriculum if we ascend to power come August 9,” said Wetang’ula.
