THE 21ST CENTURY SKILLS GAP IN THE KENYAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM: A FOCUS ON PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN WEBUYE WEST SUB COUNTY, KENYA

Sarah Likoko, Pamela Khaemba, Ismael Mabunde

Abstract


The quote from Alvin Toffler “the illiterate of the 21st century will be those who cannot learn, un learn and re learn can be used to describe the educational system of a country which hopes to equip learners with relevant 21st century skills”. However, there is a widespread consensus that education systems are failing to adequately prepare learners with the relevant 21st century skills necessary to succeed in life, and career and be better citizens. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaires and checklists. A census approach was used to select all 47 secondary schools in Webuye West Sub County. Purposive sampling was used to pick 4 teachers from each school. The four teachers were picked from the language department, Humanities department, Mathematics department, and Sciences department respectively. The sample size was 188 teachers. SPSS was used to analyze data. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation was used. Findings reveal that the educational system in Kenya prioritizes competitive exams while underplaying 21st century skills that are needed to make learners better citizens. This implies that there is a high 21st century skills gap between both the teachers and the learners in most of the public secondary schools in Kenya. The study concluded that in 21st century all educators (teachers) play a critical role in shaping the lives of learners. When the teaching and learning process is at its best, learners will be better citizens and better human beings in society and in the nation at large. Therefore, educators should act as mentors and peer coaches with fellow educators, pursuing continuous learning opportunities and unlearn, learn and relearn to make better educators.

 

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21st century skills, education reforms, soft skills, competencies, pedagogical content

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v10i5.4828

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