NAIROBI — In a shift away from exam-based rote learning, the Kenyan government is rolling out a competency-based curriculum for its students. It hopes a transition to encouraging critical thinking will make Kenyans more competitive in the global workforce.
The move is part of a growing trend in the global education community toward developing life skills in students rather than teaching them to regurgitate facts.
“The competency-based curriculum came into existence because of the shortcomings of the current curriculum that we are phasing out,” said Christine Owinyi, head of the department for education for sustainable development at the Kenya Education Management Institute, which is the capacity-building agency for the ministry of education.