Sustainable Education and Digital Transformation
Equity and readiness in Kenya’s competency-based curriculum transition: Mixed-methods evidence from the pioneer grade 10 cohort
Silas Mwirigi 1 * , Josphat Kagema 1
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1 Department of Curriculum, Technology & Management, Karatina University, Kenya
* Corresponding Author
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ARTICLE INFO

Sustainable Education and Digital Transformation, Online First, Article No: e43844
https://doi.org/10.33902/SEDT.202643844

Article Type: Research Article

Published Online: 21 Mar 2026

Views: 17 | Downloads: 9

ABSTRACT
Kenya’s Competency-Based Curriculum promises learner-centred, competency-driven education that nurtures core competencies and aligns learning with individual talents and twenty-first-century demands. However, the 2026 transition of the pioneer cohort from junior secondary to senior secondary has exposed significant cultural, academic, and infrastructural challenges that threaten the curriculum’s equity and effectiveness goals. This mixed-methods study investigated transition challenges among the pioneer Grade 10 cohort. Students and principals from diverse school contexts provided data through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative analysis revealed high perceived difficulties in resource access, academic rigour and pathway specialization, cultural and governance shock, and career guidance and pathway selection. Inferential tests showed significant associations between school category and adaptation success, with infrastructure adequacy and teacher specialization as strong predictors of smoother transitions. Qualitative themes highlighted abrupt prefecture systems, rapid specialist-teacher pace, resource improvisation, and marginalization in schools co-serving legacy system learners. The study underscores that sustainable and equitable curriculum reform requires structural alignment—particularly infrastructure, specialist staffing, and guidance systems—to safeguard learning continuity and mitigate transition-related inequities across school categories and pathways.
KEYWORDS
competency-based curriculum educational equity grade 10 transition infrastructure institutional readiness Kenya mixed-methods
SUPPLEMENTARY FILES
In-text citation: (Mwirigi & Kagema, 2026)
Reference: Mwirigi, S., & Kagema, J. (2026). Equity and readiness in Kenya’s competency-based curriculum transition: Mixed-methods evidence from the pioneer grade 10 cohort. Sustainable Education and Digital Transformation. https://doi.org/10.33902/SEDT.202643844
In-text citation: (1), (2), (3), etc.
Reference: Mwirigi S, Kagema J. Equity and readiness in Kenya’s competency-based curriculum transition: Mixed-methods evidence from the pioneer grade 10 cohort. Sustainable Education and Digital Transformation. 2026. https://doi.org/10.33902/SEDT.202643844
In-text citation: (1), (2), (3), etc.
Reference: Mwirigi S, Kagema J. Equity and readiness in Kenya’s competency-based curriculum transition: Mixed-methods evidence from the pioneer grade 10 cohort. Sustainable Education and Digital Transformation. 2026. https://doi.org/10.33902/SEDT.202643844
In-text citation: (Mwirigi and Kagema, 2026)
Reference: Mwirigi, Silas, and Josphat Kagema. "Equity and readiness in Kenya’s competency-based curriculum transition: Mixed-methods evidence from the pioneer grade 10 cohort". Sustainable Education and Digital Transformation (2026). https://doi.org/10.33902/SEDT.202643844
In-text citation: (Mwirigi and Kagema, 2026)
Reference: Mwirigi, S., and Kagema, J. (2026). Equity and readiness in Kenya’s competency-based curriculum transition: Mixed-methods evidence from the pioneer grade 10 cohort. Sustainable Education and Digital Transformation. https://doi.org/10.33902/SEDT.202643844
In-text citation: (Mwirigi and Kagema, 2026)
Reference: Mwirigi, Silas et al. "Equity and readiness in Kenya’s competency-based curriculum transition: Mixed-methods evidence from the pioneer grade 10 cohort". Sustainable Education and Digital Transformation, 2026. https://doi.org/10.33902/SEDT.202643844
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