Curriculum
CBC is Now CBE: What Kenya's Curriculum Rename Means for Schools in 2026
Kenya's national curriculum officially changed its name from CBC to CBE. The framework is the same. But the terminology matters more than you might expect — for Schemes of Work, school software, and how parents read assessment reports.
What changed, and what did not
Kenya's national curriculum is now officially called Competency-Based Education. CBE. The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development formalized the name change from Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) to reflect a shift in emphasis from curriculum delivery to learner outcomes.
The framework itself did not change. CBE Kenya retains the same learning areas, strands, and sub-strands that schools have been implementing since 2017. Pre-Primary, Lower Primary, Upper Primary, Junior Secondary, and Senior School pathways are unchanged. Six learning areas remain the organizing structure.
What changed is the framing. CBC placed the curriculum document at the centre. CBE places the learner and their demonstrated competencies at the centre. The language shift is intentional, and KICD expects it to be reflected in how schools document and report learning.
What it means for schools and administrators
Any system still using 'CBC' in official documents, reports, or software is out of step with current KICD terminology. This matters in three places:
Schemes of Work
HODs now expect SoW documents to use CBE terminology. Submitting SoW documents that label the framework as CBC risks being flagged in internal quality reviews.
Assessment reports
Parent-facing reports and term summaries that reference CBC are technically incorrect. As CBE language becomes standard in KICD communications, mismatched terminology creates parent confusion.
School LMS platforms
A school's digital platform should use CBE strand and sub-strand labels throughout. Platforms that have not updated their curriculum taxonomy are presenting outdated information to teachers and students.
What it means for teachers
For classroom teachers, the day-to-day impact is smaller than the administrative impact. Lesson delivery does not change. The key shift is in documentation: lesson plans, Schemes of Work, and assessment records should all reference CBE rather than CBC.
Teachers at schools using a digital LMS should check whether their platform has updated its curriculum labels. If a teacher is assigning a Grade 5 Mathematics lesson under a 'CBC-tagged' strand, the content may still be correct, but the reporting and documentation will carry the wrong framework name.
Teachers using Elymica's teacher portal will see CBE labelling throughout — in lesson assignments, Schemes of Work generation, and HOD submission workflows.
What it means for publishers
Publishers selling CBE-aligned content into the Kenyan market need to audit their catalogue. Content tagged as 'CBC-aligned' needs to be relabelled as 'CBE-aligned'. Publishers who update early capture the search and credibility advantage as schools search for CBE-specific materials.
Publishers on Elymica's marketplace can update their content taxonomy through the publisher portal. The platform's curriculum taxonomy uses CBE-KE labelling at every node.
Three checks to confirm your platform is CBE-ready
- 1.Search the platform for 'CBC'. If it appears in curriculum labels, strand names, or assessment templates, the platform has not updated to the current KICD terminology.
- 2.Check the assessment reporting language. Does it describe learner outcomes using CBE competency levels, or does it default to percentage-based grading that predates the CBE framework?
- 3.Check your Schemes of Work tool. If it generates documents with 'CBC' in the framework header, those documents are technically incorrect for 2024 onward.
Common questions about the CBC to CBE rename
Why was CBC renamed to CBE in Kenya?
Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) renamed the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) to Competency-Based Education (CBE) to shift emphasis from the curriculum as a document to education as an outcome-driven process. The rename reflects the broader intent of the framework: developing learner competencies rather than just delivering a curriculum.
What is the difference between CBC and CBE in Kenya?
CBC (Competency-Based Curriculum) and CBE (Competency-Based Education) refer to the same Kenyan national curriculum framework. The name changed; the learning areas, strands, sub-strands, and grade structure remain the same. CBE is the current official KICD term as of 2024.
Do Schemes of Work in Kenya still use CBC or CBE?
Schemes of Work should now use CBE terminology. HODs and school administrators reviewing Schemes of Work will expect the current KICD-approved framework name. Platforms that generate Schemes of Work automatically should use CBE labels throughout.
Does Elymica use CBE or CBC terminology?
Elymica uses CBE terminology throughout the platform, including curriculum taxonomy, Schemes of Work tools, assessment reporting, and content tagging. The platform was updated to CBE when KICD formalized the rename.
Elymica uses CBE terminology throughout
All curriculum nodes, assessment reports, Schemes of Work tools, and publisher content tags on Elymica use CBE-KE labelling. If your school is evaluating platforms, this is one of the quick checks worth running before you commit.
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