The High Court will deliver a judgment tomorrow (Thursday) in a petition from 2021 challenging the rollout of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), which is set to replace the 8-4-4 education system.

Advocate Nelson Havi contends that the Education Ministry's implementation of the new curriculum is unlawful and detrimental to the future of Kenyan children, and should be halted.

Originally scheduled for Tuesday, the final verdict was postponed to Thursday at noon.

"Take notice that the above bench petition which was scheduled for delivery of judgment on the 18th day of June 2024 has been re-scheduled to the 20th day of June, 2024 at 12:00 noon before the full bench," read a notice by Deputy Registrar Pauline Mbulikah of the Constitutional and Human Rights Division at the High Court of Kenya in Nairobi.

The petition, initially filed by lawyer Esther Awuor Adero Ang'awa, lists the Ministry of Education, National Assembly, Teachers Service Commission (TSC), and Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) as respondents. In 2022, Ang'awa withdrew from the case, citing profiling by the State, and her position was taken over by Havi.

Havi argues that without the involvement of all stakeholders, children are being forced to make career choices prematurely. The National Assembly, however, claims that the petitioner's arguments are baseless, asserting that the curriculum revamp adhered to constitutional and legal provisions.

The CBC was launched nationally in January 2019, targeting Pre-Primary I and II and Grades 1, 2, and 3 in lower primary. The first cohort is now in Grade 8, the second year of junior secondary. The 2-6-3-3-3 curriculum aims to address the shortcomings of the 8-4-4 system of rote learning.

Critics argue that the government failed to conduct adequate research to justify the CBC curriculum's national implementation.