By John Kariuki, Mt. Kenya Times
As Kenya's education sector undergoes yet another transformation, Benter Opande, CEO of the Kenya Women Teachers Association (KEWOTA), is voicing deep concern over what she calls a pattern of “knee-jerk policy decisions” that risk derailing the future of learners and undermining the teaching profession.
Her latest remarks come in response to a government directive that will make Mathematics a compulsory subject for all learners under the newly rebranded Competency-Based Education (CBE) system up to senior school level. The announcement, made by Principal Secretary Esther Muoria, has sparked debate among educators and policy watchers, many of whom are still grappling with the rollout of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
Opande believes that these abrupt shifts are emblematic of a deeper problem—a lack of coherent, inclusive, and well-thought-out education planning. She questions the rationale behind rebranding CBC to CBE without a clear legislative anchor or national dialogue, warning that the reforms are being introduced in a vacuum, with little to no input from the very people expected to implement them.
To fully grasp the weight of her concerns, Opande urges a sober reflection on how Kenya arrived at this point. From the 8-4-4 system to CBC, the country has witnessed a series of reforms, many of which skipped crucial preparatory stages. Now, with CBE entering the scene, teachers are being bombarded with new terminologies and expectations, from the shift to “Lesson Learning Outcomes” in lesson plans, to an expanded eight-tier assessment system replacing the previous four levels at junior school. The traditional report card has morphed into a yearly reporting tool that must capture competencies, values, practical skills, and strand-level performance—adding yet another layer of complexity to an already overburdened system.
But beyond the policy changes themselves, Opande is more concerned about the institutional disconnection that continues to plague the education ecosystem. She points out that the Ministry of Education, KICD, KNEC, and the Teachers Service Commission all operate in silos, each with its own data systems and identifiers, with no mechanism for interoperability or information sharing. According to her, this structural isolation isn’t accidental—it’s baked into the legal frameworks governing these bodies, making collaboration almost impossible.
“It seems to be by design,” Opande observes. “The Acts of Parliament that created these institutions have turned them into standalone pillars. There’s no harmony, no unified vision.”
At the heart of her message is a call for legislative reforms to streamline these institutions, create room for collaborative policy-making, and ensure that the people on the ground—teachers, learners, and school leaders—are meaningfully engaged in shaping the future of education.
“Are these shifts uplifting or sinking education? What is the end game?” she asks, posing a question that captures the frustration and uncertainty felt by many educators across the country.
For Opande, the solution lies in a deliberate, inclusive process—one that prioritizes consultation, coherence, and capacity building over top-down decrees. Until then, she warns, Kenya’s education reforms may continue to look ambitious on paper, but unstructured and unsustainable in practice.
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