The Ministry of Education (MOE) recently announced that mathematics will no longer be compulsory for learners transitioning to senior secondary school under the new competency-based curriculum (CBC).
This comes against a backdrop of a plethora of challenges emanating from the implementation of the new curriculum, among them insufficient instructors for the new pathways, most notably in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics); insufficient textbooks; and insufficient classrooms for junior secondary schools (JSS), which initially led to the domiciling of the JSS in the currently existing primary schools.
The government has tried to address these issues. Publishing of the new textbooks has been ramped up, albeit the persistence of the challenge and the initial confusion on the domiciling of JSS in primary schools is almost non-existent – at least according to the information from the ministry.
As you may imagine, transforming an educational model at the national level must have faced challenges. Unfortunately, the challenges may have been exacerbated by the passing away of Professor George Magoha, who was spearheading the implementation of CBC.
The new curriculum model, as the name suggests, aims to foster competency-based learning, inquiry-based learning, and project-based learning frameworks. It replaces the 8-4-4 education system, which the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), policy experts, and other education stakeholders criticized for prioritizing the passing of examinations.
CBC is believed to align with 21st-century challenges and opportunities due to its holistic and lifelong learning approach, not to mention its emphasis on practical skills. This is why the recent announcement by MOE to make mathematics – which has been a core subject in the previous education model – optional has caused uproars from parents, educationists, professional bodies, and the general public.
First, the curriculum is meant to adapt to the 21st-century world, which is experiencing existentially multidimensional and multifaceted challenges ranging from climate change to economic inequalities to technological disruptions to health crises to governance to food security and population growth.
World over, education undergoes reimagining to adapt to the new realities. Essentially, that is among the primary reasons for the introduction of CBC in Kenya. Secondly, it is believed that mathematics plays a significant role in helping design solutions to the aforementioned challenges.
The subject cultivates critical thinking and problem-solving among learners. Therefore, when made optional at the senior secondary level, it is feared that learners will abandon the subject, denying the country the opportunity to nurture critical thinkers and problem-solvers required for her long-term prosperity.
Although the subject is compulsory for the STEM pathway and in JSS, making it optional at the senior secondary level likely weakens learners’ capabilities in procedural thinking, analytical thinking, and problem-solving. In addition, a multidisciplinary approach to learning is not only a key fundamental tenet of competency-based education but also critical for developing sustainable solutions to the world’s challenges such as climate change, food security, and economic inequalities.
As institutions of higher learning around the world are striving to foster multidisciplinary learning in their course programs (see Nelson Mandela University in South Africa), Kenya is well-positioned to steal the race by reinforcing it earlier in the students’ educational journeys but is shying away. The reasons highlighted by the ministry point towards running away from an inherent problem instead of facing it head-on and solving it.
The Cabinet Secretary for Education, Julius Ogamba highlighted the mass failure of learners in math – 72% of KCSE students in the previous year scored D and below – as a justification for making the subject optional at the senior secondary level. This does not seem like a sufficient ground for making a core human knowledge optional for young learners in a developing country.
Rather than loosening the grip on its adoption, this statistic should prompt reforms in how math is taught. Globally, countries facing similar challenges have implemented interventions such as differentiated instruction, gamified learning, and real-world problem-solving approaches to improve engagement and performance. KICD and MOE can learn from these models instead of retreating from the challenge.
A sustainable solution to the mass failure of students requires a deeper diagnosis by the ministry and developing necessary measures to curb it. These could include revising teacher training programs to update teaching pedagogy frameworks and introducing competency-based assessment models that move beyond traditional exams. But, surely, a solution cannot be making the subject optional for young learners.
The Institute of Engineers of Kenya (IEK), in their statement against making math optional in senior secondary, highlighted the interrelationship between math and non-STEM pathways, arguing, for example, that “Fields like accounting, finance, and business analytics rely heavily on mathematical skills for financial calculations, statistical analysis, and economic modeling. Without adequate preparation, students may struggle in higher education and the workforce.”
IEK recommends a “balanced approach” such as introducing “Applied Mathematics” in the form of practical application in areas such as financial literacy, statistics, technical measurements, and computational thinking. In addition to this, the body recommends strengthened career guidance so that learners (and parents) are made aware of the long-term implications of dropping mathematics. It asserts that this will ensure informed decision-making. Furthermore, the body advises universities and technical institutions to retain basic math requirements for fields that demand numeracy skills, even in non-STEM disciplines.
Therefore, KICD and the ministry must adopt a bird’s eye view to see past exam failure – which CBC in itself is trying to move away from – and recognize the long-term impacts of maintaining math as a core subject across all levels of our education system. They must recognize that math beyond the foundational numeracy literacy acquired in JSS, for the Arts and Sport Sciences and Social Sciences learners, is not primarily concerned with improving grades, but provides a vital tool for problem-solving, opportunity identification, and solution development.
