2020 Volume 11 Pages 26-35
The term ‘competency’ has attracted attention due to the progress of globalisation in the 21st century and the qualitative changes in society, such as the emergence of a knowledge-based society. In recent years, competency-based educational reforms have spread globally. This study focuses on African countries and discusses the challenges in developing and implementing a competency-based curriculum to propagate the role of curriculum studies. Firstly, we reviewed the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) definition and selection of competencies (DeSeCo) project and the skills proposed by an international research project known as Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills (ATC21s), which underline competency-based educational reform throughout the world. Secondly, we discussed the key competencies defined by the East African Community as an example of competency-based curriculum reforms in African countries. Following this, their characteristics were clarified by comparing them with competencies prescribed by major countries and international organisations. We found that the competencies stipulated by all the countries and organisations including African countries, are very similar, and they can be divided roughly into three categories: basic literacy and numeracy, higher-order cognitive skills, and social skills. Thirdly, we examined practical challenges in the spread of competency-based educational reforms in African countries using Lersch’s learning model. Finally, we proposed three curriculum research issues in African countries to solve those problems: (1) curriculum for the acquisition of basic literacy and numeracy, (2) local competencies applying specifically to African countries, and (3) comparative analysis of competencies in African countries.
