Educational article for current awareness purpose

1. DEMYSTIFYING NUMBER 2-6-6-3 EDUCATION SYSTEM VS NEMIS SATANIC
THEORY
The International Bureau of Education recommend that an education system is supposed to be
changed every 5years, Kenya has only experienced one major curriculum reform since its
independence, in 1963. The reform was prompted by a change in the structure of the Kenyan
education system in 1985 from 7-6-3 to 8-4-4. Whereas the structure of education has remained
intact since its implementation in 1985, the curriculum has undergone several reviews, in 1990,
1992, 1995, and 2003. The majority of citizens feel strongly that the 8-4-4 system of education
(including both structure and curriculum) are not fit for purpose.
Since curriculum is influenced by both national needs and international trends, before reforming
the curricula, KICD collaborated with universities, Ministries of Education, the Teacher Service
Commission, Teacher Unions, and employers, among other stakeholders, to carry out a national
needs assessment study in 2016. To understand the international educational best practices, KICD
conducted benchmarking visits to South Korea, Canada, China, and the Netherlands, among other
countries.
The findings of KICD summative evaluation report of primary and secondary education curricula
in 2009; and a national needs assessment study, conducted by KICD in 2016, The Kenyan vision
2030, blue print for national development, underscored the need to reform the country’s education
in order to equip citizens with the necessary knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values to achieve the
nation’s social, economic, and political aspirations.
The 2009 summative evaluation report and 2016 national needs assessment study findings
indicated that 8-4-4 system had several skills gaps including, agricultural skills, entrepreneurial

2. skills, vocational and technical skills, innovation and creativity with ICT skills. The system was
found to be objective based and laid emphasis on acquisition of knowledge with no pedagogical
emphasis on application and competencies. These studies showed that 8-4-4 system is too rigid
with limited opportunities to align basic education with children career interests, aptitudes and
abilities. In addition it was established that the system only served the interest of those who score
high grades in traditional subjects including English, mathematics, science and humanities at end
of secondary education then proceed to higher education and take up white collar jobs. It was
concluded that 8-4-4 system suppresses the students’ interests in learning, and prevents them from
developing talents and pursuing higher education.
Using the 2009 summative evaluation report with 2016 national needs assessment study result and
benchmarking experiences, KICD compiled and disseminated its findings through a national
stakeholders’ conference presided over by the Deputy President. This helped in identifying critical
issues that needed to be addressed through the curriculum reforms, which enhanced stakeholder
participation. There was also reassurance that the planned changes had been informed by both
local needs and global trends. Kenyans concurred that the 8-4-4 system emphasised acquisition of
knowledge with no pedagogical emphasis on application. They opined that this approach
influenced the examinations, which mainly tested memorisation. Educationist asserted that there
was need to adopt a competency-based approach (CBA) that would promote application rather
than mere acquisition of knowledge. They expressed the desire to have a curriculum that empowers
learners with 21st century skills to help them thrive rather than survive in this era. Based on this
feedback, KICD proposed to adopt a competency-based curriculum approach in the reforms.

3. The competency based curriculum approach adopts a 2-6-6-3 education structure which
establishes, Two year of pre-primary, 3years of lower primary , 3 years of upper primary ,3years
of junior school and last but not least 3years of senior school.
KICD conceptualizes a competency as the ability to apply learning resources and outcomes
(knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes) adequately in a defined context (education, work,
personal, or professional development). A competency-based curriculum is a curriculum that
emphasizes what learners are expected to do rather than mainly focusing on what they are expected
to know. In principle, such a curriculum is learner-centred and adaptive to the changing needs of
students, teachers, and society. It implies that learners can acquire and apply the knowledge, skills,
values, and attitudes to solve situations they encounter in everyday life.
KICD identified 7 core competencies expected to be developed by learners through the
competency based curricula. These competencies are communication and collaboration, critical
thinking and problem solving, creativity and imaginative, citizenship, self–efficacy, digital literacy
and learning to learn. Adoption of the appropriate pedagogy, subjects, learning areas, curriculum
designs, and schemes of work, textbooks, lesson plans, and other teaching-learning materials are
vehicles through which the core competencies will be developed and experienced by the learners.
The approach will make learning meaningful and provide opportunities to apply the competencies
to real life situations, while also empowering them with skills for lifelong learning.
The competency based curriculum assessment model requires competency-oriented learning
assessment, in which formative assessment (for and as learning) is a key feature, to complement
summative assessment (of learning) based on indicators on four performance levels namely:
exceeding expectations; meeting expectations; approaching expectations; and below expectations.

4. Before developing the 2-6-6-3 curricula, KICD developed a Basic Education Curriculum
Framework in 2016. To ground the conceptualization and design of the curriculum on sound
education and curriculum principles, the framework is guided by several theories, including:
Vygotsky social cultural development theory that underscores the need to support students through
scaffolding the learning experiences, Piaget’s cognition development theory, that provide the
alignment between the maturational development of the child and how learning should be
organized.The other theory constitute Bruner’s cognitive development theory that espouses the
importance of learning in a meaningful way to build from known to unknown, John Hattie’s visible
learning that emphasizes the role of the teacher in terms of the impact of approaches adopted on
students learning and last but not least Dewey’s social constructivism that focuses on the need to
adopt learner-centred approaches in curriculum design and delivery.
In nutshell to demystify number 2-6-6-3 versus NEMIS Satanic theory, NEMIS stand for National
Education Management Information System (NEMIS) which is a web based data management
solution that collects data and information from education institutions; processes and reports the
status of designed indicators; and provides the sector a solid ground for effective management to
ensure that every Learner counts. The Online Platform tracks performance mobility of learners
and teaching staff to ensure efficiency and effective utilization of education resources. The
ultimate goal of 2-6-6-3 education system is to identify the talent of the learner such as tailoring
and shoe making at an early stage and nurture it to ensure that no learner is viewed as a failure at
the end of basic education cycle.
Compiled by Joseph Kutialo Mwanzo research Librarian KICD Library.