The Government and donor funded programs on education are on the right trajectory, the Kenya Primary Education Equity in Learning (KPEEL) Program Mid-Term-Review has revealed with calls for streamlined services to enhance efficiency.
The Ministry of Education and its partners carried out the KPEEL mid-term-review exercise inspecting progress in key interventions on school improvement, Elimu Scholarship, construction of Grade-9 classrooms and teacher training.
Principal Secretary for Basic Education Dr. Belio Kipsang said the exercise was meant to enhance accountability and transparency making sure that the existing structures were adhered to and ensuring prudent utilization of government resources.
Dr. Belio reiterated on the commitment of the government to implement the vision of an inclusive, equitable and quality education in Kenya.
He observed that various teams from the Ministry of Education, The World Bank and Global Partnership for Education among others participated in the Mid-Term-Review (MTR) field mission to various learning institutions across the country during the exercise.
The teams focused on the result areas of intervention in the school improvement plan (SIP) to ascertain if the schools have an approved development through a consultative process and confirmed reception of the first tranche funds amounting to Ksh 480,000.
The PS noted that the Ministry of Education has been implementing Elimu Scholarship Programme (ESP) since 2020 under SEQIP & KPEEL program. The scholarship program under the Kenya Primary Education Equity in Learning (KPEEL) Program is a scale up of the Secondary Education Quality Improvement Project (SEQIP). Under the SEQIP and KPEEL programs, the ESP aims to improve transition and retention of learners from economically and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds, also it aims at improving participation of girls in schooling as 55% is set aside for the girls.
Since inception, ESP has supported a total of 52,000 beneficiaries in 5 cohorts, with 18,000 and 34,000 under SEQIP and KPEEL Program respectively. The first ESP cohort sat for KCSE in 2023 with impressive performance and value addition with 46% attaining C+ and above.
Equity Group Foundation (EGF) was procured under SEQIP and KPEEL to implement the ESP. however, for sustainability purpose, The Jomo Kenyatta Foundation (JKF) which is a Government Agency was brought on onboard and now is administering scholarships to 14,000 Elimu scholarship programme beneficiaries under the KPEEL program. The scholarship Program entails payment of school fees, provision of school kit, transport to and from school and pocket money and mentoring support services.
The construction of grade 9 classrooms focus areas looked into adherence to the guidelines on the legal provisions, designs, regulations and safeguards both environmental and social. Quality of works and procurement process. Plan to deal with the defects being addressed. Progress reports on construction No allocated, progress, lessons learnt, challenges and recommendation. Level of involvement of the stake holders, awareness and ownership, an active SIC and BOM evidenced by reports and minutes of meetings.
During the MTR, Teacher training colleges (TTCs) presented briefs on the interventions indicating status, progress, lessons learnt, challenges and recommendations suggesting gaps and proposed actions. ICT enabled Learning Resource centres (I-Hubs) intended to enhance lesson delivery and learning/training with focus areas evidence of deployment of equipment in the 4 areas: DLP Lab, PC lab, Mini Studio, 2 Smart classrooms including desk top computers, trainee tablets and laptops, tutor lab tops, servers, Screens, projectors, projection screens, their functionality and utility, security measures, and capacity of the users.
Linkages with identified schools focus area demonstrated a working relationship with the schools evidenced by minutes of meetings, joint preparations for practicum, evidence of mentorship and coaching by regular teachers for the trainee teachers during micro teaching term and practicum evidenced by reports and records kept at the college demonstrated competence in the utilization of the interventions.
The ministry of education officials was led by the Directorate of Projects Coordination and Delivery head Mr. Elijah Mungai and the National coordinator KPEEL Director Martha Ekirapa among other officials.
The education stakeholders jointly extended their well wishes and success to the form four candidates in the forthcoming Kenya certificate of secondary national examinations.
By Joseph Kamolo Mutua
