Resolving the 21st Century dilemma: Using assessment results to rethink pedagogies in East Africa

The 21st Century has been heralded as an information age. Almost two decades into this century, most of the Sub-Sahara African countries still struggle to include 21st Century skills in the curriculum designs and... [ view full abstract ]

The 21^st Century has been heralded as an information age. Almost two decades into this century, most of the Sub-Sahara African countries still struggle to include 21^st Century skills in the curriculum designs and implementation. A look at the curricula in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda however reveals that aspects beyond literacy and numeracy have been part of the curriculum for decades, communication, critical thinking and problem solving. How comes then, that such a rift exists between curriculum enactment and implementation? This paper reports the findings of an assessment conducted in 2016 on a random sample of 600 schools in the three countries, covering over 23,000 learners in grades 5 and 6. Results of this study establish that less than 19% of the learners can express themselves in discussing environment-related issues (in English and Kiswahili languages), less than 15% can apply mathematical concepts to real life and that only 22% demonstrate basic critical thinking to resolve a problem. We argue that these findings pose challenge not just to curriculum formulation and what children learn, but more to how curricula are implemented and the teaching-readiness to equip learners with skills for thriving in the 21^st century. The paper concludes that rather than run to constantly review the curricula, education ministries should consume the available evidence on learning outcomes (beyond literacy and numeracy) to re-invent pedagogies that nurture connection to the local environment, promote self expression (both verbal and written) and thinking skills. These competences, we argue, can be mediated within any existing curriculum design.