Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has now directed its 110 executive secretaries across the country to participate in the new curriculum reforms talks that started on Monday.
Knut Secretary-General Wilson Sossion said the forums will enable to the teachers to articulate their position on the curriculum review process.
The teachers’ lobby had earlier threatened to boycott the talks.
Sossion maintained that their participation in the process is not an endorsement but to highlight concerns they have as a union on the new system that was rolled out this year in Pre-Primary 1 to Grade 3.
“We will be in those forums to tell the country that the new curriculum is not working unless we follow the right procedures,” said Sossion.
The exercise was launched on Monday in Nakuru by Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha.
It aims to enable Kenyans give their views on the new curriculum that has replaced the 8-4-4 system of education.
The CS also urged the Parliament to hasten the adoption of Sessional Paper 1 (2019) on Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) which he says will clarify on contested issues around ongoing curriculum reform efforts.
He said the Sessional Paper will put to rest ongoing politics over the rollout of CBC.
Speaking at Nakuru Boys High School when he launched the 2019 Dialogues on Quality Education on Monday, Magoha said the Ministry of Education will nonetheless proceed with the rollout of CBC despite opposition from a section of stakeholders.
“This does not mean to say that we need a sessional paper to continue CBC, it will only help end the hullabaloo by the naysayers,” he said.
The CS conceded that there were infrastructural challenges in primary schools and assured stakeholders that the ministry will work to resolve them.
He said the government has allocated Sh300 million towards improving infrastructure in primary schools this year.
