Nairobi, April 29 -- A new report has just revealed the government's own admission of the shocking shortcomings of the competency-based education (CBE). Touted at its initiation as the solution to the glaring weaknesses in the old 8-4-4 system, the transition to the CBE remains a tall order.

The Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) survey found that 73.2 per cent of Grade 3 learners had failed to attain minimum proficiency in numeracy, and 58.9 per cent struggled with basic English literacy. Three out of four Grade 3 learners cannot tackle basic mathematics.

This poor performance is due to teacher absenteeism, inadequate textbooks and a shortage of basic infrastructure. The lack of learning resources is a key shortcoming. A govern...