With the introduction of the Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC), the greatest prospect is to produce a holistic Kenyan personality combining character, knowledge and skills in the digital age.
Yet it seems Gen Z is ahead in the call for reform in this country, even as we wait for the Alpha Generation’s graduation as products of the CBC system. Questions now arise: Could the Gen Z revolt be having any relation to our education system? Was President Ruto’s description of Gen Z revolt as an inflection point apt? And, did this youth call have any serious reflection on the role of value-based education?
Historically, access to quality education has been a challenge in this country for decades and across generations. The recent youth-led anti-tax revolt that steadily morphed into a mighty movement for a value-based dispensation society cannot be gainsaid.
At the heart of the revolt is patriotic loathing of corruption, incompetence, extravagance and fragrant display of wealth by certain top government officials, including Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and even parliamentarians.
Education, however, means three main things anywhere especially in a developing nation:
- Ethical end: The creation of a united, democratic, just, prosperous and genuinely free and sovereign nation. But value-based education is becoming a bridge too far aggravated by inadequate funding, shortage of teachers and inadequate equipment and facilities.
- Value-based education: Philosophically, it is an end product in itself of persons of character, knowledge and skills useful to society and humanity. However, study has shown that an educated person with only training in the mind and not equipped with morals end up becoming a threat to society. They will be more clever devils! Inversely, a good value-based education produces a conscientious responsible person who is easy to lead but difficult to drive, easy to govern but impossible to enslave. Could this character fit into the Gen Z personality?
- Value-based education is a solution to challenges in society. While former ANC leader and South Africa President Nelson Mandela hailed education as the most powerful weapon that brings change to anyone’s world, Kenya’s founding father Jomo Kenyatta saw education as a tool to kill ignorance, poverty and disease.
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After replacing the 8-4-4 education system, the CBC aims at “upright” Kenyan citizen who will be digital savvy, armed with imagination, creativity, critical thinking and problem solving skills, patriotic, lovely, and responsible, commanding respect, unity, peace and integrity.
However, the intense commercialization and politicization of education in the country is an impediment to achieving value-based education.
The World Bank and IMF gave conditions, equating Moi’s education system to a marketplace. Efforts by successive political regimes of Kibaki, Uhuru and now Ruto to avoid the backlash from dwindling access to affordable education have resulted in heavy wasteful and corruption-prone bursary systems.
It is recommendable that in the on-going reforms, government should depoliticize the funding of education. All bursary bodies must be merged into a single entity to fund free education in schools and provide loans to tertiary colleges and universities.
This would bring productivity in funding of our national education, ending up in eradicating corruption and political interferences in learning institutions.
Martin Kurgat
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