By Mercy Munialo (School Support Manager) and Maureen Shelmith (Digital Strategy Officer)

The implementation of the Competency Based Curriculum points to the inner workings of adapting to and embracing this new turn in the quality of education. It is here that pupils encounter and grapple with the learning goals to be achieved and the necessary skills to be acquired. It is the quality of what happens in classrooms that indicates whether the intent has been translated into practice. A student’s success is directly tied to the effectiveness of their teacher. This is why educator effectiveness is one of the top priorities for education systems.

In Kenya, the need for broad-scale curriculum reform led to the implementation of the Competency Based Curriculum – and for good reasons. At Dignitas, it is our core mandate to ensure children learn in a space where they can thrive. Their daily interaction with teachers serves as a catalyst to this goal. In order for teachers to be effective, they need to have good subject knowledge, time, resources and support for professional development.

Recently, the Dignitas team partnered with KEMI (Kenya Education Management Institute) for a learning exchange session. The team shared insights and brainstormed together on how best we can embed and trickle down the CBC curriculum knowledge through our Professional Development sessions. Likewise, revisiting comparative notes on the variations between the 8-4-4 system and the CBC model; it’s impact on children in their everyday behaviors, socialization, appreciation of culture, country’s governance and how we can mirror our ingenuity in lesson planning to develop study areas geared towards the main pillars of Kenya’s national education goals and values.

As a team, we had a broad look at the various challenges and shared insights on a better way forward that blends the “what” to teach with the “how” to teach it. We immersed ourselves in a re-learning session to assist us develop better mechanisms for the teachers we support.

Well-supported teachers are empowered and equipped to ensure vibrant learning spaces for all children.  Our program design considers the competencies teachers need to ensure all learners gain the core competencies highlighted in the CBC such as creativity, critical thinking, communication, collaboration, self-efficacy and learning to learn.

In addition, the session was a reminder that we must focus our efforts on nurturing education ecosystems that offer support for school leaders, teachers and students to be more successful – we are honored to have the support of KEMI and other education stakeholders in ensuring all schools are a vibrant place for children to thrive and succeed.