High Court postpones CBC case hearing
The High Court has postponed a hearing on the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) that was set to start tomorrow, Tuesday, September 27.
“The case of Esther Awuor Adero Angawa Vs Cabinet Secretary responsible for matters relating to basic education will not proceed as scheduled as the judges will be away on official duties,” said a communique seen by NTV digital.
The case was scheduled to start on Tuesday and be heard through Wednesday, September 28.
Former Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Nelson Havi, inherited the case from Ms Esther Ang’awa, an advocate of the court who withdrew from the case citing negative profiling by the state and government agencies.
Havi is seeking to have the new education curriculum scrapped on grounds that it is burdensome, costly, and confusing to learners given the scarcity of facilities to embrace the new system.
In June, Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha, who is a respondent to the case, asked the three judges to dismiss the petition since the new curriculum has taken off and should not be hindered.
Judges Hedwig Ong’udi, Antony Mrima and Antony Ndung’u, who were appointed by Chief Justice Martha Koome to preside over the matter, decline to terminate the case saying it raises matters of great public interest.
Early this year, the Ministry of Education introduced Grade Six. The students will take their last national exam in December before junior secondary classes begin in January of the following year.
Prof. Magoha, the National Assembly, the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, the Kenya National Examinations Council, the Teachers Service Commission, the teachers unions Knut and Kuppet, and Interior CS Fred Matiangi were all named as respondents in Ms. Ang’awa’s lawsuit.
Others named as interested parties are the Kenya Private Schools Association (KPSA), the Kenya Primary Schools Heads Association (Kepsha) and the Kenya National Parents Association.
The case will be mentioned again on November 22.