State maintains commitment to co-curricular activities

The government through the Ministry of Education has heavily invested in sports and other co-curricular activities as a way of developing talents among learners.

Head of the directorate, Field Coordination and Co-curricular Activities,  Nelson Sifuna said the government was committed to growing talents in line with the tenets of Competency Based Curriculum (CBC).

CBC focus on 7 competencies: Communication and Collaboration, Critical thinking and problem-solving, imagination and creativity, citizenship, digital literacy, learning to learn and self-efficacy.

Speaking when he officially launched term one of Primary Junior School and Secondary Special Needs Games, Sifuna said CBC goals could be achieved through participation in Physical Education (PE) and sports.

“The government values co-curricular activities, towards this goal, it has launched a sports fund and the leadership of the country has committed to supporting sports and other co-curricular activities,” he said.

Sifuna said the ministry would be starting activities for all cadre of pupils and students in the whole country this week starting with Nakuru where the special needs games from Primary schools were commencing in five villages.

The games will take place at Nakuru Boys High School, Nakuru Girls High School, Kirobon Boys High School, Kirobon Girls High School and Menengai High School.

“Today we were in Nakuru to start Special Needs Games, followed by Embu where the drama and film championship for creative arts, then Moi Nairobi Girls to launch the Kenya Science and Engineering Fare,” he said.

He added that Primary Games are set to start in Nyeri later in the week followed by Junior Secondary School and secondary school games in Machakos.

He thanked partners, especially Special Olympics which was represented during the launch of Special Needs Games at Nakuru Boys High School.

He said the Ministry of Education was aware that schools were the home for most special needs children because some cultures discriminate against them.

“The government wants to ensure that special needs children also feel as part and parcel of the country,” he said.

Sifuna urged partners to assist especially in the special needs games saying that they were expensive due to the equipment needed to facilitate the players.

“The government has made sure that schools have the necessary equipment for the special needs games and it provides funds and allows schools to purchase the equipment while others are donated,” he said.

He said Kenya finished second in East Africa in last year’s East African Special Needs school adding that it was an indicator that their equipment was of international standard.

“Special needs games coaches and officials strictly adhere to the international standards,” he added.