By Prof. Olubayi Olubayi

Kenya has a new school curriculum. This new curriculum started with children who joined grade one in 2017. Those children are now in grade 8. They will do their first life-changing national examination in grade 9 in 2025, next year.

This new curriculum is called the Kenya competency-based curriculum or CBC. There are four major differences between the old 8-4-4 curriculum (8 years of primary, 4 years of secondary, and 4 years of undergraduate university education) and the new CBC (6 years of primary, 3 years of junior secondary, 3 years of senior secondary, and 4 years of undergraduate university education). The differences are as follows:

1. In the old 8-4-4 curriculum the academic future of a child was determined in grade 8. If a child failed the national grade 8 KCPE examination they would not be able to join any high school that prepares them to attend university. 

In the new CBC curriculum, the national examination that determines a child’s academic future has been moved from grade 8 to grade 9. In the new national examination in grade 9 only students who pass mathematics and science highly will be allowed to study STEM (which is the most coveted area of study in Kenya because of future employment opportunities). The rest of the students will be placed on either the social science track or the arts and sports track depending on their examination scores. In a developing country like Kenya, it is very difficult to get employment in the non-STEM and non-mathematical fields of study. 

2. In the old 8-4-4 curriculum, the decision as to what area of study and career a student will pursue in university or college was made at the end of grade 12. 

In the new CBC curriculum, the decision as to what area of study and career a student will pursue at university or college will be made in grade 9, because placement into one of three tracks (STEM or Social Science or Arts & Sports) starts at the end of grade 9.

3. In the old 8-4-4 curriculum, 100% of the students’ examination scores were earned from the summative assessments in grades 8 and 12. Only the national examination determined the grade. 

In the new CBC curriculum, at least 40% of a student’s grade is determined in school by the assessments of the student’s own teachers. A portion of the grade is based on teachers’ assessments. The rest of the grade will be from a national examination.

4. In the old 8-4-4 curriculum, the focus of the national examinations in grades 8 and 12 was on ability to memorize large quantities of information in several subjects of study. 

In the new CBC curriculum, the vision (which has not yet been implemented properly) is to shift learning away from memorization to demonstration of seven major competencies. The seven competencies are: One, communication and collaboration; two, self-efficacy; three, critical thinking and problem solving; four, creativity and imagination; five, citizenship; six, digital literacy; and seven, learning to learn.