This archive report was first published on 1 October 2019.
As Kenya grapples with a high unemployment rate, with seven million Kenyans unemployed and 1.4 million desperately looking for jobs, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) survey in 2018, it is high time the Ministry of Education incorporated entrepreneurial skills into curriculum in primary schools.
Belinda Mulindi, a communications specialist, argues that this is the only way to open the minds of learners to the ocean of opportunities awaiting them out there. She cites the story of Hilary Kiplagat, a young man with an MBA from the University of Nairobi, who opted to start operating a boda-boda business because he couldn’t get a white collar job.
With the current national conversation on competency-based curriculum (CBC) underway, Mulindi believes that this is the perfect opportunity to introduce entrepreneurial skills to learners from a young age. She notes that in developed countries, learners are exposed to entrepreneurial ventures at a young age, such as setting up lemonade stands or going door-to-door selling cookies.
Such projects force a learner to use critical thinking and problem-solving skills as well as creativity and imagination. Mulindi argues that with an entrepreneurial mindset introduced early in a child’s education, it will make one think outside the predictable employment box.
She calls upon all stakeholders to support government’s efforts as it embarks on the long journey towards implementation of CBC in schools because it will create a positive long-term impact in learners. Mulindi believes that CBC could just be the silver bullet to give us the innovative thinkers and investors who will in turn become employment creators to help us achieve the goals of Kenya’s Vision 2030.
