The Ministry of Education has announced significant revisions to the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), set to take effect in January 2024.
These changes are informed by the recommendations outlined in the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform (PWPER) report, which was released on August 10, 2023.
The report recommended that the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) streamline the number of learning areas and curriculum designs by addressing issues such as content overload, subject overlaps, and gaps in basic education. The goal is to improve the scope and integration of subjects within learning areas.
According to the report, the learning areas should be capped at five for pre-primary, seven for lower primary, eight for upper primary, nine for junior school, and seven for senior school.
The Ministry has accepted these recommendations and has reduced the number of learning areas and lessons for primary and junior schools as follows
:
- Lower Primary (Grade 1 to 3): The number of learning areas has been reduced from nine to seven. The total number of lessons has also been reduced from 35 to 31 per week, including the Programme of Instruction. Hygiene and nutrition activities are now integrated within environmental activities, while creative arts are now combined with art, craft, music, and physical education.
- Upper Primary: The learning areas have been reduced from ten to eight. The number of lessons per week has been cut from 40 to 35. Foreign and indigenous languages are now categorized as co-curricular activities under the new structure.