Global Journal of Human Social Science, G: Linguistics and Education, Volume 22 Issue 4

Implementation of Moral Education in Kenyan Schools: A Possibility or an Illusion? Some Critical Reflections Dr. Makoyo Monanda Stephen Abstract - There is no doubt that morality is a fundamental tenet of any form of education. Any system of education that fails to pursue moral development of learners as one of the aims of education fails on a critical aspect of society. The assumption behind these observations is that morality, by and large, shapes people’s behavior in a positive direction thus making society peaceful, harmonious and develop faster. Whenever immorality reigns supreme, society is in chaos, brutish and incapable of prosperity. The Kenyan government has rolled out a new system of education dubbed competence based curriculum (CBC), currently in grade 5. This paper critically analyses how the CBC is prepared to implement moral education (ME) in Kenyan school. In its reflection, the paper tries to find out whether the approaches used within the CBC curriculum are different from the 8.4.4, and thus speculate the chances of success and failure. Core in this reflection is the notion of criteria for a successful implementation of a ME curricula. The paper employs the critical method of philosophy and the prescriptive method, though other philosophical methods are alluded to. It is established that the CBC is ill- prepared to implement moral aims of education. It is recommended that the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) in conjunction with the ministry of education develops a moral education curriculum for Kenyan schools. Keywords: competence based curriculum, morality, moral education. I. I ntroduction here is no doubt that morality and moral education (ME) are important aspects of any education system in the world. Several scholars have echoed this assertion. Bogonko (1992) has argued that education has a role in producing ‘good’ citizens. The terms ‘ good citizens’ imply those citizens that are morally of good standing, capable of being selfless, responsible and of good character. Indeed Bogonko’s claim is supported by Chukwu (2002) when he observes: Education has a vital role to fill in character building. It is of fundamental importance in the process of individuals’ becoming ‘persons’. Every educational system prevailing in our time has to integrate in its curriculum from primary, secondary and university levels specific moral values… Without morality, society is bound to degenerate. A high wave of crime, corruption and various forms of anti-social activities will prevail. As a result, no society or nation in contemporary Africa can make genuine and stable progress... (2002, pp. 286-287). From the above quotation, it is apparent that education should implement moral education in xdschools. Moral education has a purpose of influencing worth whileness of people’s conduct as they interact with their fellow human beings. Such, moral characters as kindness, love, generosity, peace and love have been identified as worth of inculcation by the school (Bansikiza (2001). The 8-4-4 system of education in Kenya that is being phased out attempted to implement ME in Kenyan schools as depicted in the goal of ‘imparting sound moral and religious values’ . This goal of ME is borrowed from the Ominde Commission Report of 1964 that identified moral development as an important aspect of education. However, it must be noted that irrespective of the several policy documents in education that have echoed the need to implement ME in school, morality in Kenya has sunk to a record low. Daily occurrences in Kenya are sufficient evidence. Cases of rape, corruption, irresponsible sexual behavior, teenage pregnancy, alcoholism, murder, police brutality and embezzlement of public resources all point to a country in moral limbo. The implication of this observation is that the schools may have not being successful in implementing ME. These claims have being echoed by such policy documents as the Gachathi Commision Report of 1976 (GoK, 1976), the Mackay Commision Report of 1981 (GoK, 1981), the Kamunge Commission Report of 1988 (GoK, 1988) and The Professor Douglass Odhiambo Task Force Report of 2010 (GoK, 2010), to mention just but a few. This raises the question: how is the CBC prepared to mitigate this challenge? II. R esearch M ethodology: T he C ritical M ethod This paper used the critical method as the main study method. The critical method is also referred to as the Socratic Method. It is an important method in philosophy that evaluates doubt, beliefs, opinions, assumptions and customs with a view to establishing T © 2022 Global Journals Volume XXII Issue IV Version I 29 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 G Corresponding Author: Lecturer, Kenyatta University, School of Education; Department of educational foundations, Kenya. e-mail: mmonanda@yahoo.com