2-6-3-3-3 Education System
2-6-3-3-3 Education System was proposed by a task force headed by Former Moi University Vice Chancellor Douglas Odhiambo. The primary education will be split into two categories; Pre primary which will take two years and Primary education which will take six years.
Then students will advance to Junior secondary school which will take three years and later proceed to senior secondary school which will take three years too.At the senior level they will spend another three years focusing on their areas of specialization depending on their abilities and interests.
After senior secondary school, the students will enroll at vocational training centres or persue university education.
The system puts more emphasis on Continuous Assessment Tests (CATs) rather than the end of cycle tests. It is focused on competency- bases rather than examinations. The focus of the system is to equip learners with skills rather than making than cram for the examination.
2-6-3-3-3 Education system Subjects
The system(2-6-3-3-3 Education system) gives students in secondary school a chance to specialise in the subjects they wish to pursue in tertiary institutions and learning areas have been divided into three categories: arts and sports, social sciences and science and technology, engineering and mathematics.
Under sports, students will pursue games, performing arts and visual arts while social science options will be languages and literature, humanities and business studies.
The third option will have pure and applied sciences, engineering and technical studies.
Subjects to be taught in lower primary will include literacy, Kiswahili, English and indigenous languages, as well as mathematical and environmental activities (science, social and agriculture activities).
In upper primary, pupils will be taught Kiswahili, English, home science, agriculture, science and technology, mathematics, religious studies, moral and life skills, creative arts (art, craft and music), physical and health education, social studies (citizenship, geography and history) with an option of foreign languages (Arabic, French, German, Chinese) and indigenous languages.
At junior secondary, a learner will be required to take the 12 core subjects — including English, Kiswahili, mathematics, integrated science, health education, pre-technical and pre-vocational education, social studies, religious education, business studies, agriculture, life skills education, sports and physical education.
They will also take a minimum of one and a maximum of two subjects according to personalities, abilities, interests and career choices.
The optional subjects are home science, computer science, performing arts, foreign languages, Kenya Sign Language, indigenous languages and visual arts.
In senior secondary, a student will take two core subjects irrespective of the pathway identified.
They include community service learning (life skills, citizenship, entrepreneurship, financial literacy and research) and physical education.
2-6-3-3-3 Education system Endorsement
The education CS Dr Fred Matiangi launched the system on 30th January 2016 at Kenyatta International Convention Centre and asked the Kenyans to continue making suggestions on it with the view of improving it.
The new system (2-6-3-3-3 Education system) was endorsed by government officials and key players. During the ‘National Conference on Curriculum Reform’ in Nairobi, most participants agreed the current 8-4-4 system should be done away with even as the country aligns the education system with the development needs of the 21st century.
2-6-3-3-3 Education system Criticism
However, there were questions on when the new system will be rolled out. Officials from teachers’ unions said the country was not ready for the new curriculum. But Government representatives said the new system of education would be launched in four months’ time and that the only challenge was the actual time of piloting and whether there are enough funds to implement it.
Teachers’ representatives argued that the curriculum review is being done in a rush. Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion raised questions about the process used to develop the framework of the new curriculum which he said had not yet been gazetted.
Sossion said the remaining time is not enough to pilot the curriculum and that there is need for four to six more months to debate the quality of the new curriculum (2-6-3-3-3 Education system)
Sossion accused the Government of rushing the process to gain political mileage ahead of the next General Election. “It is not about finishing it quickly but finishing it well. We risk ending up with a very good document that will never be implemented.” But Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i brushed off the criticism, saying the remaining time is enough to fine-tune the curriculum and implement it.
Some stakeholders raised queries on the actual cost of implementing the new curriculum. However, the Government said that will be known after the whole process is complete. Matiang’i said the plan is to come up with a curriculum the Government can fund from its own budget. “Let us reduce the negative energy in criticising things just for the sake of it. You should focus more on how you should be involved rather than how much you have not been involved,” said the CS. Sossion said piloting should have started this month, and throughout the rest of the year, instead of May. He said the team that developed the curriculum needs enough time to debate the system, at least four to six months, and every stage shared with the public. “The biggest question about the curriculum is; are we ready to facilitate teachers with the 21st century classroom? The problem is if this is rushed, then we may not achieve the desired results,” said Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) secretary general Akello Misori.
Misori said the Government should come clean on the amount of investment it has planned for the roll-out of the curriculum, “because there is no doubt it will be an expensive affair when it comes equipping teachers with required tools and skills.” “What we do not want is a narrative from the TSC that they will re-train teachers yet we understand we already have an acute shortage of teachers. This curriculum is learner-oriented, meaning every teacher should manage a small group of students, as opposed to the current scenario,” said Misori. Also present were representatives from the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa), Teachers Service Commission (TSC), Kenya National Parents Association (KNPA) and the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).
Source: Standard Digital
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