8-4-4 Curriculum in Kenya
Primary school was made free and mandatory, and secondary and higher education were subsidized by the government.
Independence triggered changes brought upon by difference in content of history and geography among single nations.
Kenyan Identity was a priority while the nation was learning how to be unified with the other two East African countries; Uganda and Tanzania.
The then president Daniel Arap Moi, acknowledged that Kenya needed the appropriate educational system that will be sufficient quantitatively and qualitatively.
[3] The emphasis on this meant that the country was depending on education to be a vehicle for socio-economic development and social justice for all citizens, and the eradication of poverty.
Due to the increasing public demand for more schools, the government called to the citizens and banks to fund the expansion of educational facilities especially in regions that were disadvantaged during the period before independence.
[2] One way the system sought to reduce teenage fertility was to directly improve girls’ knowledge about family planning; another was to give them alternative opportunities via schooling.
The majority of programs are of the first kind: they are aimed at enhancing young people's ability to avoid early childbearing and directly influence the process of decision making by adolescent girls at the time of choice.
The 8-4-4 system allowed for an additional year in primary school to aide in enhancing their decision-making skills needed to make important lifestyle choices.
The 8-4-4 system made primary school available and free in order to keep up with the demand and also give quality education that essentially was to help the economy.
Study shows that higher levels of education decrease by at least 10 percentage points the probability of giving birth when still a teenager.
At the secondary level, the well performed students enjoy the privilege of attending national schools and receiving full funding for their tuition.
The under performed students get a chance to attend district schools but the downside to that is that they have to pay for the tuition out of pocket.
[6] The vision of the basic education curriculum reforms is to enable every Kenyan to become an engaged, empowered and ethical citizen.
This will be achieved by providing every Kenyan learner with world class standards in the skills and knowledge that they deserve, and which they need in order to thrive in the 21st century.
The first cohort of students under the Competency Based Curriculum to transition from Upper primary to junior High School will join in early 2023.
The government has been constructing more classrooms in existing secondary schools across the country to accommodate the junior high learners.
Lower secondary will expose the learner to a broad based curriculum to enable them to explore their own abilities, personality and potential as a basis for choosing subjects according to career paths of interest at the senior school.
Learners in lower secondary will undergo a rigorous career guidance programme and be exposed to the related subjects to enable them to make informed choices as they transit to senior school.
Learners exiting this level are expected to be “empowered, engaged and ethical citizens” ready to participate in the socio-economic development of the nation.
The learner entering this level shall have had opportunities at lower secondary to explore their own potential, interests and personality and is therefore ready to begin specialization in a career path of choice.
Schools will be specialized institutions that will provide opportunities for learners to focus in a field of their choice as well as form a foundation for further education and training and gaining employable skills.
Senior schools will be required to therefore organize open days to enable learners and parents to glean the information necessary for effective decision- making.
