Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has said that the Competence Based Curriculum works out smoothly if parents employ graduate househelps.
Speaking while on a tour of Western Kenya, Magoha said that homes with competent househelps were having an easy time with CBC, and only those with class 2 dropouts were having a hard time.
“Every home with kids in Kenya should have a househelp, and a graduate for that matter. This will make it easy for kids to do their homework and do it excellently. There is no shortcut around that.”
He said that the approach was already working in some parts of Karen, where households hire graduates as househelps. “A househelp should be able to handle all assignments given to kids, especially in the lower grades. If they are not able to find and photograph a unicorn as the curriculum demands, it is because they are not graduate enough. Find another one.”
Magoha also noted that having graduate househelps will also help reduce the unemployment problem in the country, as it will help the hundreds of thousands of graduates who are jobless. “Instead of calling them househelps, just call them graduate home assistants. You will see them sending their applications. Even if you pay them KShs 12,000 per month they will still be fine because they are usually paid KShs 25,000 which they spend on commute, food and housing. They will now have an opportunity to save all the money they earn.”
Ease the Pressure
The CS admitted that there is a problem with CBC, but can be ironed out with a change of attitude. He called the teachers to be lenient on parents, saying that most parents are not used to obeying arbitrary commands.
“Teachers are used to commanding pupils around and pupils have to obey. Now they are trying to order parents to produce some learning materials and they realize that it is not that easy. The teachers should slow down, while parents should speed up. That is how the society works.”
