What Are Strands And Sub-Strands In CBC (CBE)? — And Why KICD Stopped Saying "Topics"

If you are a Kenyan parent or teacher new to the Competency-Based Curriculum — now formally renamed Competency-Based Education (CBE) — the two words you will encounter most often are strand and sub-strand. They are the structural units the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) uses to organise every learning area from PP1 to Grade 12. They are not topics. They are not subtopics. KICD has deliberately retired both of those terms, and asking a CBC teacher about "topics" in a curriculum design is the fastest way to signal that you are reading from old 8-4-4 reflexes. This matters more than vocabulary. A strand is a competency cluster — a set of related skills and understandings the learner is meant to develop and demonstrate. A sub-strand is the focused learning unit inside that cluster. The distinction shapes how lessons are planned, how learners are assessed, and how KNEC builds the KJSEA and KCSE papers your child will eventually sit. This article explains both terms in plain English, shows you a worked example from a real KICD design, and tells you why the move away from "topics" was deliberate.

The 8-4-4 baggage: why KICD stopped saying "topic"

To understand why "strand" and "sub-strand" replaced "topic" and "subtopic", it helps to know what those older words used to mean in classroom practice. Under the previous curriculum, a syllabus was organised as a list of topics, and a topic was essentially a body of content the teacher was expected to deliver and the learner was expected to memorise for the end-of-term examination. Topics produced lesson plans like "Today we are doing Photosynthesis" — content first, learner-action implied. Assessment then asked the learner to reproduce what had been delivered. The CBE/CBC framework, drawing on the East African Community curriculum reform and on global competency-based education research, took a different stance. KICD argued that learning is not the absorption of content but the development of competence — and competence has to be visible in something the learner can do. Renaming the structural units was the visible signal of that philosophical shift. Calling the unit a "strand" forces a curriculum designer to think in competency clusters rather than content lists, and forces a teacher to plan lessons around demonstrable skills. The terminology change is small. The pedagogical reorientation it carries is large.

What a strand actually looks like in a KICD design

Open any Grade 7 KICD curriculum design — Mathematics, for example — and turn to the table of contents. You will not find "Topic 1: Whole Numbers; Topic 2: Fractions; Topic 3: Decimals." You will find Strand 1: Numbers, with sub-strands listed under it (Whole Numbers, Factors, Fractions, Decimals, Squares and Square Roots). Strand 2 might be Algebra, with sub-strands Algebraic Expressions, Linear Equations, Inequalities. Strand 3 might be Measurement, with sub-strands Length, Area, Volume, Capacity, Mass, Time, Money. Strand 4 might be Geometry. Strand 5 might be Data Handling. The strand is the conceptual umbrella. The sub-strand is what a teacher actually plans a unit of lessons around. Now look at any sub-strand page — for example, "Fractions". The KICD design will give you, in order: the sub-strand name, a Specific Learning Outcomes block (what the learner should be able to do by the end of the sub-strand — phrased as observable actions), a Suggested Learning Experiences block (how the teacher could organise the lessons), a Key Inquiry Questions block (prompts that drive discussion), Core Competencies addressed, Values addressed, PCIs (Pertinent and Contemporary Issues) addressed, and Suggested Assessment Methods. That is the architecture. Once you have read one KICD sub-strand page, you have read them all — the structure is consistent from PP1 Indigenous Language through Grade 12 Physics.

Strand vs sub-strand vs lesson — getting the hierarchy right

How the strand structure changes lesson planning

A CBE-aligned lesson plan does not start with "Today we are doing equivalent fractions". It starts with "By the end of this lesson, the learner should be able to identify two fractions that represent the same value using paper folding and a fraction chart". That phrasing comes directly from the sub-strand's Specific Learning Outcome in the KICD design. The teacher then plans a 35-40 minute lesson that gives the learner the opportunity to perform that action — typically through a learner-centred activity (the paper folding), a discussion (key inquiry questions about why two different-looking fractions can be equal), and a quick formative check (a worksheet, an exit ticket, or a peer-explanation activity). The lesson is then assessed against the BE/AE/ME/EE rubric levels, where BE means "Below Expectation", AE "Approaching Expectation", ME "Meeting Expectation" and EE "Exceeding Expectation". This is the chain: strand → sub-strand → specific learning outcome → lesson → assessment rubric. Every link is anchored in the KICD design. For teachers building KICD-aligned schemes and lessons, our CBC lesson plans Kenya guide walks through a full sub-strand-to-lesson workflow, and our KICD lesson plan format template gives the exact layout teachers should use.

How assessment changes — BE, AE, ME, EE explained

The strand framework changes how assessment is built too. Under the previous curriculum, an end-of-term examination handed the learner a content question and awarded marks for the correct answer. Under CBE, a sub-strand-aligned assessment hands the learner a task — sometimes a practical, sometimes a written prompt, sometimes a project — and the teacher rates the performance against the four-level rubric. BE means the learner has not yet demonstrated the targeted competency and needs further support. AE means the learner is on the way but has not yet consolidated the skill. ME is the target — the learner has met the expectation set out in the Specific Learning Outcome. EE means the learner has gone beyond — applying the competency to a new context, teaching it to peers, or producing higher-order work. These four levels appear on every KICD assessment rubric and now appear on the report forms KNEC issues for KJSEA at Grade 9. The shift away from raw percentages took some adjustment for parents accustomed to "He got 78%". CBE reports tell you what your child can do at the level of the sub-strand. For a full parent explainer, our CBC assessment rubrics explained piece breaks down each level with worked examples per learning area.

Where to read the official strand definitions

Every word KICD uses about strands and sub-strands is defined in the Basic Education Curriculum Framework (BECF) and re-articulated in each grade's curriculum design. The BECF is the umbrella policy document; the per-grade designs are the operational documents teachers actually plan from. Both are free downloads on the KICD website at kicd.ac.ke/cbc-materials/. Read the BECF once — it sets the philosophical frame — then download whichever grade design applies to your child or your teaching load. Our maintained launchpad of free KICD curriculum designs by grade links straight to the official PDFs and adds orientation notes per learning area. If you are reviewing for KJSEA or KCSE assessment readiness, the strand-by-strand revision packs in our shop are built directly off the same KICD sub-strands — strand-anchored, not topic-anchored, so they map cleanly onto how KNEC builds the actual papers.

Why this matters beyond vocabulary

If a parent says "topic" in a parent-teacher conference, no one will correct them. The conversation will continue. But underneath, the teacher knows the parent is reading from an older mental model — a model in which education means content delivery and assessment means content reproduction. The strand model invites a different conversation: what can your child do at the end of this sub-strand, and what do they need next? That question is the heart of CBE and the reason KICD has been deliberate about the vocabulary. Adopt it. Use it with your child's teachers. When you read a school report, look for the BE/AE/ME/EE band per learning area or sub-strand rather than for a percentage. When you help your child revise at home, organise the revision around the sub-strand the teacher names rather than around a textbook chapter. The same applies to teachers writing schemes of work — name the strand and sub-strand explicitly on every scheme entry rather than copying a textbook chapter title. The vocabulary change is small. The behavioural change it enables is substantial. That is the difference between reading a CBE design and merely glancing at it.

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