In the newly proposed community based learning (CBL) , teachers are expected to play a key role in engaging with learners during disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. However the CBL idea has not gone well with some parents and teachers citing that the idea is premature and needs more refinement.
On the other hand the CS of Education George Magoha slammed the community learning naysayers “Turning around and twisting the concept of community teaching is regrettable. It was meant to teach the children in the locality that they live in,” he said.
Speaking in Eldoret on Friday, CS George Magoha said there is a lot of hot air going around in regards to the community learning.
“I’m hearing a lot of hot air…If you live in a gated area that has 30 children and there is one teacher there, why are you saying you need PPEs?” he said.
“If you don’t want to teach the children then don’t. Do not bother! The children belong to you. It is as simple as that.”
Noting that the government will not open schools, disturbed and perturbed Magoha said Kenyans should not think that the government brought coronavirus.
“Nobody is happy about closing the institutions. In the US, for example, where they have kind of reopened schools, 100,000 school children have already caught the virus. And going by the percentages, maybe between 500 and 1,000 will die,” he said.
“We shall not open the schools. Community learning is not about opening the schools.”
He said community learning is about life lessons.
“People think that going to school is about paper and pen. There are many things to teach the children,” he said.
“I can paint, plant a tree. What tells you education is about passing an exam?”
The Teachers Service Commission issued guidelines for the community learning programme.
CEO Nancy Macharia in a notice said the guidelines followed extensive consultation with all stakeholders in the education sector.
Macharia said the objective of the programme is to engage learners in productive activities with a view to acquiring basic knowledge related to the pandemic and other practical life skills.