Don’t let the new curriculum be another failed experiment

Unsurprisingly, the newly introduced competency-based curriculum for primary and secondary schools is still creating a number of challenges a year after it was introduced. While educationists were mostly positive about shifting to a skills-focused curriculum, the concern lies in its implementation, as well as whether there are too many experimentations going on with our education system. And parents have the right to express such concerns, given the number of changes we have seen made to the system over the last decade and the disappointing outcomes they have produced.

One of the main challenges that have emerged in regard to the new curriculum is that teachers feel the training they have received is too disjointed. This was also one of the biggest issues when previous changes to the system were made. The authorities, therefore, should have taken cognisance of previous experiences and done a better job of providing training to teachers before rolling out the new curriculum. On the other hand, parents have expressed concerns that their children are not studying enough, and questioned whether they will develop the necessary competencies particularly due to the changed nature of their assessment. In that regard, the authorities should have held more dialogues with parents to explain to them the nature of the changes being introduced to alleviate their concerns.

It is laudable that the authorities are trying to move away from the traditional rote memorisation-based education system. However, the apprehensions of parents and teachers show that the involvement of different stakeholders in the preparation to shift towards the new system was inadequate. The level of infrastructural support necessary for the new system is also missing in a number of schools, and this is something that the authorities should have fixed beforehand.

Past experiments with our education system did not work as expected because the basic conditions for implementing them were not present in our school system. It is imperative that the same does not occur with the new curriculum. And this is what is most important for the authorities to realise. Another failed experiment this time will have a larger consequence for the future of children as well as the faith in our education system. Therefore, it is essential for the authorities to urgently address the challenges and fix the structural problems in the sector.