In at continent and countries where education and general learning has lost hope due to many years of learner wastes, it is not uncommon to embrace any new idea. It is like someone who is sick and thinking that he/she would die soon. Any new idea of treatment is fresh and must be explored. This is the case for Kenya and many African countries that have jumped into the Competence Based Curriculum bandwagon. Whereas it seems a relief away from the old rigid academic systems, it should be understood that competence is a mere symptom of talent just like fever is to many diseases.
By treating a symptom, you are only managing the fever and not the sickness. Lying to many learners that they would learn based on their competence is tragic noting the guesswork in knowing the so-called
competence. But even worse to assume that a learning system can be uploaded on the population just because it is assumed successful in Finland is foolish.
A parent in Finland is not the same as a parent in one of the African villages hence you cannot assume that he/she will work with the son/daughter in the learning process. Talent is the core and must be known through a professional process. It should not be confused with exhibited opportunities like sports, music, comedy, etc. Talent ( just like sickness or happiness or sadness, etc) has symptoms or signs. One of those is competence and others are interest, passion, etc.
It is thus very easy to confuse such symptoms for talent hence the wrong diagnosis. Now you can imagine what will happen in the education sector as money is pumped into dealing with symptoms. It is crazy when you think of a solution to a sickness and a pandemic comes in and sweeps off everyone cos you did not think of a main focus.
From her inception, DALC was keen of Professional and Scientific Assessment of Talent and implementing Talent Based Learning and NOT Competence Based Curriculum/Learning.
