Junior secondary school students will be taught consumer rights and market regulation from January, giving more than 1.2 million learners joining Grade 7 a toehold into the business world, the government has announced.
In a partnership between the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) and the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) that is in tandem with the competence-based curriculum (CBC), the two concepts will be escalated to senior secondary schools beginning with grades eight and nine in 2024 while the other grades to 12 will start in 2025.
This is expected to cover a total of 50 subjects under CBC.According to Mr Wang’ombe Kariuki, the director-general of CAK, the teaching will “prepare and impart young citizens with the capacity to make informed consumer choices at adulthood, especially when faced with different products and services due to increased competition and market complexities”.
Through class activities, practicals, poems, drama, music and dance, the learners will be introduced to the intricacies of the business world, helping them to reflect on their roles as consumers and producers and contribution to economic growth.
Emerging realities on the market, “especially in the digital financial services,” Mr Kariuki said, had made it useful to understand what was on offer.Charles Ong’ondo, the KICD chief executive, said consumer literacy matters had not been well addressed in school Business Studies and the new development was expected to widen the perspective of consumer awareness and the importance of competition on markets among the learners.”
Consumer related issues affect us all, irrespective of age,” Prof Ong’ondo said, adding that teaching consumer rights in school “will equip our young citizens with the requisite knowledge, skills, and values to safeguard them from exploitation by unscrupulous business persons and organisations”.
The CAK has escalated market surveillance in the recent past, seen in penalties and increased assessment of various business activities, including mergers and acquisitions, pricing, and treatment of suppliers by retailers.
Grade 7 learners will remain in their primary schools after stakeholders told a presidential task force that due to age of the learners who sat the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) exam, they stay closer to parents and guardians.
