Although there has been criticism of the Competence Based Curriculum (CBC), this kind of reaction is not limited to CBC.
Even a well-intended rural business enterprise will only be received positively if the entrepreneur can work with others.
Okello Oculi of Uganda once reminded Africans that nation-building and modernisation are more than policies and programmes. Prof Oculi was emphasising that citizens’ attitudes are paramount.
While a radical change scares mankind, it is the only route to progress. Innovation, be it political, social, or economic, will secure greater success when there is lesser resistance.
This depends on whether the target population is psychologically prepared to accept innovation in general and specific programmes in particular.
If Kenya is to realise her growth dream, the government and other stakeholders should put a lot of positive energy on social mechanisms that socialise the citizens into the much needed political values.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the social and economic beliefs of the parents have had a lot of influence on the direction the young learners take.
It is on the parents’ shoulders that the young people stand while exploring the world. Parents want their children to be as successful as the parents perceived of themselves. They want their children to be doctors, engineers, teachers, lawyers, lecturers and other “highly” regarded professionals.
With this attitude, it is not surprising that the majority of the youth are highly educated but jobless. Every other academic year, universities churn out thousands of graduates. The parents, fifty five years after Kenya’s Independence have too readily, though unknowingly, caused a crisis.
Many cannot access the media for this kind of publicity. A keen observer will conclude there is a massive unemployment, although the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics puts unemployment rate at a modest 7.4 percent. However, it says 85 percent of these people are aged below 35 years, showing how the young bear the brunt of joblessness.
It is not difficult to watch on national TV young graduates being advertised to potential employers after many years of a fruitless job search.
The junior citizens with grade ‘A’ certificates are this disappointed. It is, therefore, necessary as a nation to think about new political and educational remedies to this problem.
School system is the first candidate to reengineer thought system. We can no longer sing ‘Someni vijana, na muongeze pia Bidii. Mwisho wakusoma, utapata kazi nzuri sana (go to school, young people, and concentrate for that is the ticket to a good job). It rings hollow, does it not?
The school system takes most of the learner’s time and therefore creates a lasting impression in his mind right from childhood to adolescence. We, therefore, need to craft a forward-looking system that will answer some fundamental questions tied to the future.
In spite of the cash difficulties and the implementation challenges of the CBC, it provides hope for our nation.
Apart from confronting unemployment, it is at the crest of altering the way we think: who we are, what we can become, and where we want to go.
Our intent should be to counter the assumptions of many years. The CBC can be used effectively towards this end.
Intellectual growth and development is desirable but it should not be everything that our society requires to soar.
On its own, academic development can only succeed up to a given limit.
Vast human and material resources should be marshalled to manage the school system.
Unemployment adds to Kenya’s unsightly woes list of disease, ethnicity, poverty, ignorance, and corruption. These should warn Kenya the time to revamp education is now. And we are time-barred.
