Kenya is in the process of changing its education system from the 8-4-4 content based education to a competency based education. What is our role as parents of children going through this new curriculum?

1. BASIC
EDUCATION
CURRICULUM
TRAINING
Role of Parents in the Competency Based
Curriculum
Dr. Linda Kimencu

2. Parents Partnership

3. Parents Connect
■ The parent is the first teacher that a child will ever have.
■ A biggest portion of a child’s personality, values, and attitudes are
formed in the institution of family.
■ The family is the first institution where the child is educated and
raised and therefore parents have fundamental role to play in the
personal development and achievement of their children.
■ Studies show that parental involvement in a child’s education has
more powerful influence on students’ academic achievement than
anything about the school the students attend

4. Competency Based
Curriculum
■ A competency based curriculum is a curriculum that
emphasizes on what the learners are expected to do,
rather than just what they are expected to know.
■ It is the curriculum that recognizes that every child is
different, with different attributes

6. Rationale for Curriculum
Change
■ Curriculum changes from 8-4-4 to 2-3-3-3-3
■ 8-4-4 began in 1985 with the theme of “self reliance”
■ 8-4-4 was criticized for being overly academic and
examination oriented.
■ Does not offer flexible education pathways
■ Resulted to increased drop out rates and wastages
■ Does not focus or nurture talents and interests of learners
■ Resulted to increased competition rather than
collaborations
■ Focused on passing exams rather than knowledge
acquisition
■ Blamed for increase in unemployment and other social

7. Paradigm Shifts in new
curriculum
8-4-4
■ Focus on content/theory
■ System is rigid and
prescriptive with limited
one size fits all options
■ Focusses on summative
assessments and
competition
■ Emphasis is on
schooling
■ Emphasis is on teaching
Competency Based
Curriculum
■ Focus on competence
and skills acquisition
■ System is flexible
allowing for pathways
for specialization
■ Balances summative
and formative
assessments
■ Emphasis collaborations
■ Emphasis on education
■ Emphasis is on learning

8. New Competency based
Curriculum
■ To be rolled out gradually and incrementally
■ Changes in pre-school and 1st grade to 3rd grade rolled out
in January 2018
■ 4th grade- 6th grade- 2019
■ 7th grade-9th grade- 2020
■ 10th grade- 12th grade- 2021

9. Vision and Mission
■ Vision: Enable every Kenyan to be Engaged, Empowered, and
Ethical citizen
■ Achieved through world-class standards in the skills and knowledge
of the 21st century, enabling schooling environments, provision of
resources, and sustainable visionary curriculum.
■ Mission: Nurture Every Learners Potential by providing
opportunities to identify their talents and enable them reach their
highest potential.

10. Goals of Education
■ Curriculum is anchored on the National goals of Education
■ Foster nationalism and patriotism
■ Promote national unity
■ Promote social, technological, and industrial needs for national
development
■ Promote individual development and self fulfilment
■ Promote sound and moral religious values
■ Promote social equity and responsibility
■ Promote respect for development of Kenya's rich culture
■ Promote international consciousness
■ Promote positive attitudes toward good health and environmental
protection

11. Pillars of the new curriculum
Pillars
■ Responsibility
■ Respect
■ Excellence
■ Care
■ Compassion
■ Understanding
■ Tolerance
■ Honesty
■ Trustworthiness
Guiding Principals
■ Opportunity
■ Excellence
■ Diversity
■ Inclusion
■ Parental empowerment
and engagement
■ Community Service
learning
■ Differentiated curriculum
and learning

12. Core Competencies for the
new curriculum
■ Communication and Collaboration
■ Critical thinking and Problem Solving
■ Imagination and Creativity
■ Citizenship
■ Digital Literacy
■ Learning to Learn
■ Self Efficacy

13. Organization of the new
Curriculum

14. Facts about the new
curriculum
■ Pupils join pre-primary level at four years old.
■ Before joining pre-school children need to have attained: oral skills,
creativity skills, social skills, toilet training, behavior
management, and movement activities.
■ Early years education include 2 years of pre-primary ( kindergarten)
and 3 years of lower primary ( 1st grade- 3rd Grade).
■ Children will join 1st grade at 6 years
■ Middle School refers to Upper Primary ( 4th grade- 6th grade) ( 9-12
years old)
■ A national summative exam will be done before joining 7th grade.

15. ■ Secondary school will begin on 7th grade
■ Lower secondary school- 7th-9th grade ( 13-15 years old)
■ Senior Secondary will include 10th-12th grade ( 16-18 years old).
This will be the end of basic education.
■ Students at senior secondary school will be required to specialize in
one of the three pathways: Arts and Sports science; Social
Sciences; and STEM
■ All subject areas will be anchored on the 7 competences:
communication and collaboration, critical thinking and
problem solving, imagination and creativity, citizenship, digital
literacy, learning to learn, self-efficacy

16. Proposed learning areas
Pre-Primary ( 1 and 2)
■ Language activities
■ Mathematics activities
■ Environmental activities
■ Psychomotor and
creative activities
■ Religious education
Lower primary ( 1st
Grade-3rd Grade)
■ Literacy
■ Kiswahili language activities or
KSL for Special need students
■ English language activities
■ Indigenous language activities
■ Mathematics activities
■ Environmental activities
■ Hygiene and nutrition activities
■ Religious education
■ Movement and creative
activities ( art, craft, music,
and physical education)

17. Proposed learning areas for
upper primary and lower
secondaryUpper Primary ( 4th
grade-6th grade)
■ Kiswahili language or KSL for
special needs students
■ English activities
■ Foreign languages ( Arabic, French,
German, and Mandarin- chose 1)
■ Science and technology
■ Social studies ( Citizenship,
geography, history)
■ Mathematics
■ Home science
■ Religious education
■ Creative arts ( art, craft, music)
■ Physical and Health education
Lower Secondary ( 7th
grade-9th grade)
■ English
■ Kiswahili/ KSL
■ Mathematics
■ Integrated science
■ Health education
■ Pre-technical & pre-career ed
■ Social Studies ( citizenship, geography, history)
■ Religious education
■ Business studies
■ Agriculture
■ Life skills
■ Sports and Physical education
■ ( Optional subjects: visual arts, performing arts,
home science, computer science, foreign
language, Kenya sign language, and
indigenous language)

18. Senior Secondary

19. Subject/Learning areas
■ Subject/ learning areas will be delivered and
contextualized within these broad areas: Citizenship,
Health education, education and sustainable
development, learner support program, community
service learning, parental empowerment and
engagement, life skills and values education, non-
formal program such as pastoral programs, guidance
services, career guidance, peer education, mentorship,
learning to live together, clubs and societies, sports and
games, etc.

20. Assessment of the New
curriculum
■ Assessment will be both formative and summative
■ In class assignment will be done collaboratively in teams,
although individual efforts will also be evaluated
■ Assessment will be done through rubrics, portfolios,
observation schedules, checklists and rating scales,
journaling, oral questions and answer
■ Teachers will develop a profiling assessment tool for each
learner using the information obtained from the various
assessments. The records will be tabulated alongside the
learners competencies achieved within a set period of
time.

21. An example of a profiling
toolPerformance Exceeds Expectations
(4)
Meets Expectations (3) Approaching
Expectations (2)
Below Expectations
Legibility: Daily Work
is printed legibly
Consistently uses
proper letter sizes and
formation
Demonstrates
knowledge of and uses
proper letter sizes and
formation.
Uses proper letter size
and formation but not
consistently proper letter
size and formation
Rarely uses proper
letter size and formation
( e.g. reversals, mixed
upper and lower case)
Learning Area Skills Performance Indicators
Language activities Articulation of sound The learner can recognize letter b, c,
and g sounds
Tracing The learner adequately traces patterns
but misses out on contours
Coloring Confuses color green and yellow
Pattern Writing Writes a pattern but does not maintain
the line
Example 2: Sample report
Name: Bidii MpendaKazi Class: PPT2 Year 2017 Term: 3 Age: 5.8 years

22. What you need to know
■ Learners will be required to attain the 7 competencies before
finishing basic education.
■ ICT will be mainstreamed in all subject areas
■ Learning will be experiential and applicable to a learners
immediate environment.
■ Concepts will not be theoretical/abstract but contextual and
applicable
■ Assessment will be both formative and summative, measuring
critical thinking, judgement, reasoning and interpretation of
issues.
■ Learners to choose a maximum of two optional subjects at upper
school according to personality, ability, interest, and career
choice
■ Students to complete 135 hours of community service in their
senior secondary school level regardless of career pathway

23. ■ Homework will be referred to as extension work- referring
to extended work beyond classroom.
■ Delivery of the course will be through learning resources
and not teaching aids
■ An individualized education plan will be developed for
each student by the teacher, parent, and the individual
learner.
■ Assessment will be done through rubrics, portfolios,
observation schedules, journaling, oral questions and
progress report.

24. ■ Children will be guided to choose the appropriate career
choices during the lower secondary school (7th grade-9th
grade.)
■ Students will be expected to choose a career pathway at
senior secondary school level.
■ The career pathways chosen by the student will lead them
to tertiary college in its line or the world of work through
employment or entrepreneurship.
■ The curriculum is inclusive of the special needs
component.

25. Your Role as a Parent
■ More than ever, the parent will need to be Present,
Involved, Engaged, and Empowered in guiding the child's
academic and personal life.
■ Learning begins way before the child gets to school.
■ Learning is a life-long process
■ Learning does not only occur in the classroom
■ Encourage your child to take opportunities to learn through
journaling their daily experiences and through filling their
paintings, coloring work, bead work, photos, drawings etc.
within a binder/file ( portfolio). You could also get your child
a camera to take photos of the environment, through that
you can identify what their interests are at an early age
and capitalize on them.

26. Tips for parents
■ Identify opportunities for your child to practice the 7
competences at home: ( communication and collaboration,
critical thinking and problem solving, imagination and
creativity, citizenship, digital literacy, learning to learn, self-
efficacy).
■ Engage care takers who will partner with you in ensuring
the child attain the basic competencies before joining pre-
school
■ Be a role model for learning
■ Pay attention to what your child love
■ Be involved in the school activities

27. ■ Tune into how your child learns and practice what he/she learns
■ Discuss with your child a pertinent issue currently being featured on
the media
■ Engage your child in one or more community service activities
■ Engage your child in one or more non-formal activity to identify the
strengths and talents
■ Encourage family discussion of books, newspapers, magazines and
TV programs and family games such as scramble
■ Ensure that your child is using ICT gadgets responsibly by
supervising their usage of digital devices. Use various kids safe
engine such as kiddle, kids info, kids search etc.

28. ■ Engage your child with a family chore that require they utilize
what they learn in school e.g. cooking a new recipe, taking
care of a pet animal, gardening etc.
■ Help your child take charge of his/her learning e,g. develop a
home schedule with your child for the days activities
■ Encourage an entrepreneurial culture from an early age by
probing the child to use the skills learnt in school to develop
products or services
■ Rather than ask your child what they would like to be when
they grow up… ask, what problems do you seek to find
solutions to. This will give a sense of meaning and purpose
for their lives.
■ Make memories as you instill love for learning within your
child by developing various learning resources e.g. paper
collage with old newspapers and pictures etc.

29. Partnering with the school
■ Inquire from your Childs school the extent to which the
new curriculum has been rolled out
■ Inquire from your school the type of
projects/work/community service to be done
■ During parents volunteer day; volunteer in your child
school to introduce the learners on what your profession
constitutes.
■ Partner with your childs teacher from early on to begin
developing the Individualized Education Plan for your child
■ Partner with your child, teacher and other educational
consultants to guide your child in choosing the appropriate
career path in line with his/her personality, interest and
strengths

30. ■ Request your teacher to provide a merit/demerit report of
your child's behavior/ strengths/ weaknesses etc regularly
■ Inquire from your school how the pre-tech or pre-career
education will be delivered.
■ Request your child's teacher to inform you of the learning
outcomes that are to be delivered weekly so that you could
begin preparing the learning resources with your child.
■ Evaluate your childs’ progress with your teacher along all
the various progress reports obtained from rubrics,
portfolios, rating scales etc.
■ Provide the learning resources and supplies to your child
e.g. files, pens, papers, etc.
■ Assist your child in developing and organizing the learning
portfolio.

31. Conclusion
■ Parenting is one of the hardest jobs you will ever do, but
one with the greatest reward of pure love.
■ Children are a gift and blessing from God
■ Although parenting does not come with a manual, the Bible
explicitly tells us: Train a child in the ways he/she should
go; and when he/she is old; he will not depart from it ( Prov
22:6- KJV )
■ Its out duty and role to model and steward our children to
reach their God given greatest potential.

32. Thank You!
■ Dr. Kimencu is a co-founder of Learning Gaps Center for
education and professional development in career advising
and mentoring.
■ If you need to book for curriculum training for your school/
church etc. or career guidance or your child.
■ Contact: lkimencu@learninggapscenter.com/
lkimencu@gmail.com
■ Phone: +254 757-924-784.