The new curriculum

EVERYTHING new mainly brings about excitement, in some cases apprehension or anxiety. The much talked about and anticipated new curriculum has caught up with the nation and is being implemented in schools. I believe all stakeholders have accepted it through the information which has been transmitted to them. Accepting change from an informed position is quite commendable. My assumption is that all relevant stakeholders were presented with the prerequisite information.

Much has been done to educate the teachers on the implementation of this new curriculum. Many workshops have been conducted from cluster levels, to district and provincial levels. The information has been cascading down from the parent ministry of education to schools. Schools have been getting various syllabi to kick start the programme from primary schools to high schools. I am not sure whether relevant information has been passed to the parents.

Are parents aware what this new curriculum entails, or they are hearing about it through hearsay or the grapevine? Were they consulted enough so that at the end they gave a nod to the curriculum implementation? Did parents have enough time to discuss with their children on the choice of learning areas? I understand this part has been democratic as students are allowed to choose their own learning area without any coercion.

Students could have been excited of getting a chance of a lifetime to make their own decisions and choices. But children being children, they are bound to make wrong decisions. In such a scenario parents are expected to come in and assist without necessarily pushing their own decisions to the child. After all, these are their children and as parents they have the final say as to what their children can do. There is no abuse in helping your child to follow the right path.

The point I am bringing across is that all stakeholders should have been thoroughly involved in coming up with this new curriculum, especially educationists and parents. Students could have come in to a lesser extent, it is quite acceptable and commendable that this new curriculum has brought in some progressive subjects. All is meant to change what has been retrogressive. We had all become too academic and always looked forward to being absorbed by the job market which was shrinking each day instead of creating jobs.

Agreed, this new curriculum has brought in some progressive subjects, the problem that comes with that it is not matched by an increase in manpower. The ministry has said no new teachers will be engaged. Another area of concern is that there is no reduction of teacher-pupil ratio. Numbers are extremely high in classes which is an extra burden on the teachers and resources will also be overstretched.

Some stakeholders raise teething problems in the implementation of this new curriculum. Form Ones are locked up in their learning areas up to Form Four. It seems they are not given room to change subjects along the way, what if they made wrong choices at the beginning, a fact which we cannot run away from. There is a condition that students make their own choice of learning, but, there are some schools which have decided to dictate the learning areas to the students.

Previously students could change learning areas if, for example, they found some subjects too tough for them. There is another snag, what is going to happen to students who will move to other schools? Reality on the ground will show that learning areas chosen by one school might be different from the next school because all are provided in the menu. Parents cannot be restricted