Managing Overcrowded Classrooms to Accommodate Learner Centered Methodologies: An Indispensable Pillar for Teachers’ Preparedness in Implementation of Competency-Based Curriculum in Kenya

Abstract

The implementation of the Kenyan Competency-Based Curriculum has faced a myriad of challenges. While most scholars do not cite overcrowding as a major problem facing publicacademic institutions, issues like quality of education, teacher-student ratio, lack of facilities, can be traced to some extent tothe high learner population. The objective of this study was to assess teacher preparedness in execution of science learning areas in the Kenyan Competency-Based Curriculum. Social Constructivist theory and the Trans-theoretical Model underpinned the study while offering alternatives that may be useful in decongesting the already crowded public schools in Kenya. The study adopteda concurrent triangulation design, mixing survey data with qualitative data from structured interviews and desktop research. The study targeted two hundred and three public primary schools in Nairobi County (N= 203) and randomly sampled 324 teachers. The study’s unexpected finding was that public primary schools in Nairobi County were too crowded to support a learner-centered approach which is central to the successful quality implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum in Kenya. At the same time, the study connotes that low-cost private schools have been observed to be slowly shutting down in several parts of Kenya which has left teachers without a source of livelihood. Unutilized teacher potential and wasted education structural resources have been the result. The study recommends introducing charter schools at the primary level and funding low-cost private schools to accommodate excesses in public schools. The gist of it is to enable teachers handle smaller numbers that will accommodate Learner-Centered Learning Methodologies for effective quality implementation of the Competency Based Curriculum.