Curriculum development is a well structured plan of the subjects to be taught in school and what is being learned by students as is reflected in the courses that are offered for study and the programme in school. This systematic plan is then embedded in an official documentary or put together as a curriculum guide and then disseminated to the interest groups and key stake-holders in the education sector for the purposes of implementation and strict adherence.
A curriculum has to be made mandatory and not a choice. The curriculum discussed in this paper is very specific and follows the formula 6-3-3-4.These curriculum has been developed to reflect the changing scenarios in the world today and the dynamics in the job market.
Currently the kind of curriculum followed will go along way in determining the quality of workforce being produced and will too affect the economic advancement of a country. A nation build on strong education or school system will be well managed and its base will always be on a sound footing (Hunkins, Ornstein, 2009, pp.6-30).
Some countries have very comprehensive curriculum development and education system such as the one used in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is one of the countries with very high literacy levels in the world today which stands at 62.8%. The percentages of males who are literate stand at 71.5% while that of female stands at 50.2%.
The system of segregation in terms of the sexes is followed in Saudi with the education system being divided into three distinct parts which are usually administered separately. Important to note is that both the boys and girls usually do the same exams.The curriculum in Saudi Arabia follows the technical-scientific approach.
The distinctions of the education administration include the education specific for boys, for the girls and also the traditional education which is muslim oriented.The curriculum followed in the country constitute 6 years in the primary school with the age of the students being 6-12 years, then intermediate schooling at the age of 12-15 years which takes 3years at most.
After the intermediate the student proceeds to secondary school which again takes 3 years at the gae of 15-18years. Students at secondary school level can choose the general school, religious school or the technical secondary. After the secondary school the curriculum of Saudi Arabia stipulates that a student proceeds to for higher education at the university which takes 4 years at the age of above 18years.
After the higher education at the university, there is the university –higher education where one can persue masters which takes 2 years, general diploma in the department of education which takes 1 year or do PhD which takes 3 years following a qualification for a masters degree and where one has to present a dissertation which should be based on own and independent work on research (Hunkins, Ornstein, 2009, pp.40-57)
The 6-3-3-4 curriculum identified in this paper is reflective of the one for Saudi Arabia but distinct. It is embedded and undertaken in the following way. The system is usually administered separately for each of the four stages involved and no segregation by sexes as both boys and girls are taught in same classes and environment.
The first six years involves children aged between six to twelve years. These will be called primary school in which upon completion a student will be awarded a leaving certificate called the general certificate for primary education. The curriculum will incorporate subjects like English, Kiswahili, art education, history, Christian religious education, home economics, geography, mathematics, basic agriculture, social education ðics and science.
The grade attained will depend on how a student passes the exams administered at the end of the six years and the grade will also determine the kind of school the student will get admitted for the post-primary education. The six years of primary school will be administered in rural areas, sub-urban and also in urban areas.
It will therefore be mandatory all over the country as it will be under the supervision of the provincial and district education officials. A class in primary school will not exceed forty students and not less than ten. Two teachers who have graduated from a primary teachers training college must oversee one class although teachers available will teach different subjects for the different classes.
The purpose and objective of the curriculum provided in primary school is to prepare the students for the post-primary education and also to enable them have knowledge of different languages (Hunkins, Ornstein, 2009, pp.62-80)
After completing the primary school education, a student will proceed to the intermediate school. The duration at intermediate school is three years and the age of the child is twelve to fifteen years. A certificate will be awarded upon successful completion of the intermediate school which is the intermediate certificate.
The intermediate guide has provision for subjects like English, Kiswahili, mathematics, history, geography, home economics, Christian religious education, agriculture, social education & ethics and also science. The grade level is given upon the successful pass of the examination administered after the three years.
The objective of the intermediate school curriculum is to put more emphasis on the knowledge acquired at the primary school and in so doing prepare the students for the secondary education. Secondary school will involve students going to different categories of schools such as national, provincial, district and also day schools.
The admission to these schools will depend on how well a student passes the intermediate school exam with those who perform well securing themselves places in national schools and down to the day schools for those who perform dismally. Teachers at this level are also those who have graduated from the primary school teachers training colleges.
The number of the students in the intermediate school will depend on the available infrastructure such as classrooms and also teacher to the student ratio. Like the primary level education, these too will be offered in the whole country regardless of the settings such as urban, rural or sub-urban.
The schools will be under the supervision of the ministry of basic education representatives at the provincial and district levels. The ministry will also cater for the employees in schools who too are crucial for the smooth implementation of the curriculum provided. The employees are such as the accountant, cleaners, store keeper and also the cooks (Hunkins, Ornstein, 2009, pp.41-60).
After the intermediate school a student will proceed to the secondary school. There are various categories of secondary schools in this curriculum all of them taking a duration of three years with the age of the students being fifteen to eighteen years.
The first is the general secondary school which has a curriculum outline with subjects such as English, Kiswahili, mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, history, geography, building construction and art education.
Note that those who score above 60% in the examinations administered at the end of the three years will be eligible for admission to higher education institutions i.e. universities to pursue courses in sciences while those scoring below 60% will opt for literary courses or humanities.
They will also get a certificate. The objective of the curriculum development in the general secondary school is to identify students’ capabilities and the subjects which they can consider as they choose their future careers.
The second kind of secondary school is the religious school. The curriculum for the religious school outline includes such subjects like history, geography and Christian religious education with those who are successful getting a certificate called religious secondary school certificate.
They too qualify to persue university education in social sciences and theology. The other type of secondary school is the technical/vocational school. The students admitted will be mostly those who perform poorly in the intermediate school. At the technical institutions they will be able to acquire skills in carpentry, masonry, computer studies, driving and other vocational courses.
At the end of the training they will then be awarded a diploma in vocational training certificate. Except for the technical training institutes the secondary school teachers will be those who have graduated from the university on the field of education and who have majored in specific subject line (Hunkins, Ornstein, 2009, pp.112-153).
Those who successfully complete the general and religious secondary education will proceed to the university for further studies which take four years except for courses such as medicine, veterinary medicine, engineering, clinical sciences and pharmacy that take between five and seven years. The age of the students is eighteen and above.
The curriculum here includes courses such as accounting, economics, business, humanities, social sciences, public administration, law, arts and environment just to mention a few.The objective of the university education is to give students career skills for the purposes of working in the different areas of specialization.
Graduates of higher education will now be eligible for employment as professionals in the publc service, private sector or can choose to go to private practice. Teachers at this level are the lecturers with higher qualifications such as masters or PhD. After the four years of higher education one can choose to also go for the university-higher education to pursue masters and PhD (Hunkins, Ornstein, 2009, pp.170-200).
There is usually two curriculum development approaches, the technical-scientific and non-technical non-scientific. The curriculum developed in my school is reflective of the technical-scientific or systematic approach where by the objectives of the curriculum are set, plans for the curriculum are then drawn and applied and finally the outcome of the whole process or the product is measured using the set available measuring options.
The role of the political arena participants in the curriculum development is to lobby the community for public meetings for the purposes of creating awareness about the curriculum. They also play a role in creating legislation to anchor the curriculum in law and therefore giving it a lawful backing for the purposes of thorough implementation and adoption.
The students also play a critical role in the curriculum development by giving their views on what they want incorporated in the curriculum. They also have a role in enlightening others who may not understand the curriculum development procedure. Students also ensure that their teachers adhere to the set guidelines and that they don’t divert them from the set standards and the textbooks recommended.
The teachers play a role in implementing the curriculum in terms of contents and the books they use for the various subjects. Principal’s role cannot be over-emphasized as they are the overall overseers in schools to ensure that the curriculum development takes effect by supervising the students and teachers and follow up on the recommendations.
Curriculum experts on the other hand have the professional knowledge on curriculum development and will therefore play the role of guiding the other stake-holders and interest groups. Assistant super intended’s role in the school is to ensure the superintended is well briefed on the curriculum development, implementation and the challenges that are encountered.
The superintended role is to advice on areas that need his/her guidance and too ensure that the curriculum development takes off on a smooth start. Those outside the school district will play the role of ensuring checks and balances on those bend on ruining a process which is noble and ended for success (Hunkins, Ornstein, 2009, pp.205-242).
In conclusion, I do favour the technical-scientific approach to curriculum development as it’s the case in Saudi Arabia. Only those who have expertise in curriculum development are involved in coming up with the structure of the curriculum contrary to what is seen in non-technical non-scientific where by students, teachers and the community are involved.
This approach has its objectives which are well outlined and a plan which is put in place for undertaking of the curriculum development and also some measurement stick on product or outcome (Hunkins, Ornstein, 2009, pp.330-360).
Reference
Hunkins, F & Ornstein, A. (2009).Curriculum foundation,principles,and issues. Washington, DC: Allyn and Bacon press.