With the introduction of the 2-6-6-3 education system in Kenya, mixed reactions have emerged on the topic with some Kenyans supporting it as a good move and some being against it. The 2-6-6-3 education system emphasizes on continuous assessment tests rather than the end of cycle tests and is more competency-based than exam based. The primary focus of the 2-6-6-3 education system is to equip learners with skills and not merely make them pass the end of cycle examinations. The 2-6-6-3 education system splits the primary education curriculum into two categories; two years and six years respectively. After this, the students join the junior secondary school for three years then they proceed to senior secondary school that lasts another three years.
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In the lower primary, students learn literacy, English, Kiswahili, indigenous languages, mathematics, and environmental activities (social and agricultural activities, science). When they join upper primary children learn Agriculture, home science, Kiswahili, English, Mathematics, morality and life skills, science and technology, social studies, one foreign language, physical and health education, and an indigenous language. At the junior secondary level, learners are expected to take twelve core subjects which include; Kiswahili, Mathematics, English, health education, social studies, integrated science, sports and physical education, business studies, life skills education, agriculture, pre-technical and pre-vocational education, and religious studies. In senior secondary school, the students specialize in their areas of interest based on their interests and abilities. The learning curriculum splits into three; social sciences, and science and technology, arts and sports, and engineering and mathematics.
The primary goal of the new 2-6-6-3 education system is to fill in the gap of making students ready for the employment world which the 8-4-4 system has so far failed to achieve. The later comes following complaints from Kenyan employers indicating that the old system has neglected the sectors of fishing, construction, and agriculture. There has been an influx of white-collar job trainees which over time has created a skills imbalance in the Kenyan job market resulting in most of the Kenyan youth ending up unemployed.
Critics have identified some challenges which they feel will come along with the 2-6-6-3 education system in Kenya 2017. Well, to be fair enough, any new thing always comes with a challenge, but the problem with the 2-6-6-3 education system of education in Kenya is that its challenges are a continuation of the existing problems of the troubled 8-4-4 education system. In simple terms, this means that it is not an improvement of the 8-4-4 system and yet its primary purpose is to improve and address all the challenges of the previous education system. For the 2-6-6-3 education system in Kenya 2018 to be successful, all the stakeholders involved (National Government, County Government and, the general public, other education stakeholders) must all put in collective effort to address the emerging challenges in the best way possible. Here are five most significant challenges of Kenya's new education system:
1. It is costly
The 2-6-6-3 education system is cash intensive as a lot of money is required to purchase the resources that are needed to implement the new education system. As we know, the Kenyan education system is already facing a financial challenge, and the officials have so far failed to sustain it forcing parents to put in a significant amount of money. Many parents are already complaining about the endless expenses they have to incur for their children’s education in the 8-4-4 education system. Now, to think that the 2-6-6-3 education system requires more financial investment to roll out in comparison to the 8-4-4 system, what is the plan, will parents bear the burden alone?
As of now, the Kenyan education system is ailing of endless strikes by primary and secondary school teachers as well as lecturers. Staff strikes are seasonal and take place each year with the teachers complaining of little pay and the officials failing to honor new pay agreements. The former has been happening for over a decade now, and the officials has been unable to put it to an end over the years, well the new education system will undoubtedly make things worse by increasing government expenditures. Ideally, it will cost an estimate of Ksh 340 billion annually to implement the new 2-6-6-3 Education system. The government also needs to allocate a minimum of Ksh 2 billion to hire new teachers to fulfill the 2-6-6-3 Education system successfully. Already, the teachers’ union is demanding that the Teachers Service Commission should employ more than 90,000 teachers to meet the existing deficit with an expected influx of students upon implementation of the 2-6-6-3 Education system.
To make the 2-6-6-3 Education system a reality in Kenya, the Government also needs to address the issue of infrastructure. This plan will require an allocation of not less than Ksh 6 billion. Infrastructural development is crucial for a smooth transition from the 8-4-4 education system to the 2-6-6-3 Education system. One question that Kenyan teachers and parents are left asking is can the Government afford this considering that sustaining the 8-4-4 system is already a struggle? A lot of thoughts and inputs are fundamental in the cost of implementation, and we need to ensure that the results are worth the price involved.
There have been many cases of embezzlement of funds in the country before. Corrupt government officials tend to misappropriate funds allocated for education. In the recent past, senior officials in the Ministry of Education of Kenya have faced accusations of protecting corrupt head teachers who embezzle funds because they benefit indirectly from incentives paid by parents and the government. There have been many complaints by parents about several schools across the country. The parents complain of unending payments which they have to make and failure to do so; their children are sent packing home. It is critical to address these challenges to avoid possibilities of future repetition. The 2-6-6-3 Education system is expensive as it stands, with corrupt government officials, it becomes more costly, meaning Kenyans will be forced to dig deeper into their pockets as all this will cost taxpayers.
2. Lack of schools in the marginalized areas
According to Kenyan constitution, all children have the right to access free primary education. Unfortunately, children in the marginalized regions in Kenya do not share the same human rights. Most of the schools in the marginalized areas are in a sorry state with a good number of children learning in mud thatched classrooms or under the tree. The less privileged children are further forced to share desks, chairs, and books. The new 2-6-6-3 Education system requires proper structures to facilitate the learning process.
It, therefore, calls for the renovation of the existing schools, the supply of facilities, and more teachers deployed to the schools, something that the government officials of Kenya is very far from achieving. If there is a failure in implementing these changes, the new education system will turn out to be a total failure in these areas. So far, the government officials has failed to play its role in ensuring that there are enough schools in the rural areas of Kenya and that children in the rural areas have access to quality education.
Children are forced to travel several kilometers to access school. Unlike urban areas, the few schools in the marginalized regions are mostly located far away from the homesteads. The children walk a long distance coming from school, and when they get home, they are already too exhausted to do their homework. The illiteracy level of their parents makes things worse because this means they cannot get any assistance or guidance from the parents in doing homework. Lack of adequate schools in the marginalized areas is one of the reasons why some parents still fail to take their children to school. The girls end up married to elder men, and the boys are sent to take care of cattle because of the challenges that come with the choice pursuing education.
2-6-6-3 systems of education in Kenya does not address this issue in any way. This challenge implies a problem of the 8-4-4 system is transitioned into the new 2-6-6-3 Education system yet it is supposed to be an improvement of the 32-year-old 8-4-4 education system. For the 2-6-6-3 Education system to work in the marginalized areas, the government needs to put up more schools in the marginalized regions and Teacher Service Commission to employ more teachers in such localities. The infrastructure should also be developed in the marginalized places to facilitate the same. For more information on this, download the 2-6-6-3 Education system in Kenya pdf file online.
3. Lack of adequate facilities to accommodate the 2-6-6-3 education system in Kenya
The new 2-6-6-3 Education system is heavily reliant on learning facilities that most schools in the country as it stands do not have access. Already, a good number of schools in the country do not have adequate resources to meet the previous 8-4-4 system despite its existence for more than a decade. If Kenya is to align itself with successful education systems that are similar to the new 2-6-6-3 Education system, then it needs to make some financial investment in the tune of billions of shillings. All the stages of the new education system, primary, high school, professional colleges, polytechnics, and universities all need to acquire new resources to facilitate the new learning system and this applies to both private and public institutions.
Most schools in Kenya lack adequate physical facilities that are required to facilitate learning. Many schools, especially in rural areas, do not have sufficient classrooms to accommodate all pupils who have enrolled in school. The students are forced to share desks and chairs, and there is hardly space for free movement in the classroom during lessons. Most of these classrooms are also in poor condition with poor ventilation and lighting, sometimes when it is raining children are rained on because of poor or destroyed roofing. Well, it does not end here, they are also forced to share textbooks as well. It emerges that books strenuously share among students at a ratio of one textbook to five pupils. This challenge implies that most of the children do not have access to manuals when they are at home making it difficult to do their homework, and it even gets worse during holidays since they cannot revise from home. With the newly extended holidays associated with the 2-6-6-3 Education system, learning under such circumstances becomes more difficult for the students. The teachers are forced to give them less amount of work due to the shortage of textbooks and supplementary reading books.
These factors do not only affect the student’s confidence; it affects their general physical development and writing skills. The technical nature of 2-6-6-3 Education system cannot work under such learning conditions, no matter how hard the teachers and learners try, the quality of education will positively be affected and it might result in worse performance in comparison to the 8-4-4 system. For the same reason, some teachers and parents have come up to indicate that such pressing matters should have been addressed first before implementing the 2-6-6-3 Education system as it is very likely to affect it significantly.
As earlier indicated, there is also a shortage of teachers in most schools in Kenya. Reports suggest that in some schools, the teacher to student ratio stands at 1:70 that is well above the recommended minimum of 1:40. 2-6-6-3 Education system is challenging because teachers find it difficult to pay attention to all the learners. Slow learners are likely to lag behind because the teacher does not have an opportunity to have one on one sessions with them to make sure that they are at par with the rest of the class. The teachers may also fail to issue adequate assignment to avoid overloading themselves with work considering that there are more subjects to handle in the 2-6-6-3 Education system.
Very few schools in Kenya have access to computers. Access to electricity in the rural areas in Kenya is still a challenge this means even if schools heighten technology, the power supply will remain a hindrance. Without machines, there is no way students will have a chance to learn computer studies. The approach f 2-6-6-3 Education system focuses more on specialization on the learner's skills and interest; this means the children in the schools which do not have computers will automatically be at a disadvantage in comparison to the rest. A student who is skilled in computer and technology studies might never even get the chance to know and choose it early enough as opposed to learners who have access to the same. In short, the imbalance gap that already exists with the 8-4-4 system will be widened further by the 2-6-6-3 system.
4. Kenyan teachers lack professional preparation for the 2-6-6-3 education system in Kenya
The new 2-6-6-3 Education system, unlike the 8-4-4 system, takes a different approach which is a robust pupil centered teaching method. Kenyan teachers are not skilled in handling the new teaching approach, and this might fail in delivery and sabotage of learners’ knowledge. However noble, the system might end up as sabotage in Kenyan education system.
Shifting from 8-4-4 to 2-6-6-3 Education system will be a challenge for most teachers as a good number of them will be forced to teach under the two education systems concurrently in the first few years since the 2-6-6-3 Education system will start in standard five. Its application is very confusing even to learners who might take longer to transition through the two modes and in the long run compromise on the quality of education in Kenya.
Already, creating an additional stream in schools is a challenge so how much more difficult will it be to build two more classes. Well without the support of teachers, it is almost impossible to implement the new education system as they could easily jeopardize it. The government also has the challenge of making them accept and support the new education system.
Without proper training, the quality of teacher-child interaction in the classroom is likely to be compromised. The teachers may fail to facilitate more in-depth learning. Transitioning from a theoretical approach to a more practical skill-based approach might prove to be a challenge for the teachers, and they might end up still taking a conceptual approach to the new teaching curriculum. If this happens, the goals of the 2-6-6-3 Education system will eventually fail.
The teachers especially those in primary and junior secondary level might not play their role in helping the students to identify their areas of skills and specialization, and this will result in a crisis when the pupils get to the senior level. The result is that most pupils will be frustrated and they might end up dropping out of school or failing miserably in their areas of specialization. The mismatch between the graduates and the employment market will continue to fail if the system doesn’t take effect. It will take a lot of time and resources for the teachers to be trained and to adapt to the 2-6-6-3 Education system. For more information on this, download the 2-6-6-3 Education system in Kenya 2017 pdf file online.
5. Kenyan teachers are opposed to it because it has irrelevant European policies
The teachers of Kenya have unanimously indicated that they are opposed to the Government’s idea of doing away with the 8-4-4 education system and replacing it with the 2-6-6-3 Education system. The teachers feel that it is costly and impractical. At a conference of the teacher's unions, they rejected the 2-6-6-3 Education system stating that there is no need of doing away with the 8-4-4 system but instead, it only needs to be reinforced.
Kenya National Union chairman Wilson Sossion stated that there is no way the 2-6-6-3 Education system can be implemented in Kenya also sighting that the 2-6-6-3 Education system has adopted foreign policies from the European education system. He further stated that Kenyan students do not need summer holiday in response to the new school calendar which gives students a long break from August to September.
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These challenges did not arise recently. The new education system was resisted long ago, and according to the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association chairman Cleophas Tirop in 2012, the amount of money which the Government intends to use in implementing the 2-6-6-3 Education system can be used to address the challenges which are facing the 8-4-4 education system. According to the teachers, the move to change the current structure of education is premature and what is needed to fix the existing gaps of the 8-4-4 education system by equipping the Kenyan schools with the required facilities and employing more teachers. The teachers have a valid point looking into the challenges that are facing the 2-6-6-3 Education system; they are all similar to those of the 8-4-4 system meaning the problems remain intact except they have just transferred.
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