Challenges of Teaching and Assessing the 21st-Century Competencies in Africa: A focus on the Kenyan New Curriculum of Basic Education

Abstract

The ever-changing demands of modern life have seen education policymakers worldwide come up with ways of incorporating 21st-century competencies in education systems. Many countries in the world have incorporated these competencies in their education systems though some are still faced with challenges. With a special focus on Kenya, this paper addressed the challenges that African countries have faced in the process of implementing and assessing 21st-century competencies in basic education. A comparison of the Kenyan and Finnish basic education assessment frameworks was done to find out what Kenyan education policymakers can learn from the Finnish curriculum. The findings of the study showed that the Kenyan assessment framework is too sketchy and cannot give clear guidance to teachers. There was also a lack of an assessment culture that could enable teachers to effectively carry out formative assessment practices. The study recommends the need for curriculum developers to provide a clear and elaborate assessment framework for teachers, train teachers on formative assessment use, and provide teachers with an effective support system. This study is not only beneficial to Kenyan education policymakers but other African countries especially those implementing the competency-based curriculum.