The Government of Kenya received accolades in its successes in education, thanks to the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms Report, recommendations and the Ministry of Education Sessional Paper, Bills and Regulatory guidelines, under review for implementation.
The country played host to two diplomatic delegations in education from Ethiopia and Uganda to bench mark, following its revolutionary reforms in the education sector.
The revelations were made by the visiting delegates, while on working tour in the country, during a briefing with Ministry of Education Principal Secretary (PS), Dr Belio Kipsang.
Dr. Kipsang said that Education is a human right as enshrined in the Constitution of Kenya, Article 26. 1948 Universal Declaration of Human rights, states that everyone has the right to education among other references, including the recent African Union declaration theme, embracing 2024, as the year of education.
The Principal Secretary admitted that President Dr William Ruto, envisioned the value education adds to a country, regional and African development, when he established the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms (PWPER), as he took over office as President.
Dr Kipsang echoed the sentiments of Ethiopian Ambassador to Kenya, Bacha Debele, that the two countries chose Kenya over countries such as the UK, due to similarities in socio-economic and political aspects between Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda.
He observed that benchmarking with Kenya is an acknowledgement gesture for the country’s position in the region in education best practices for sharing experiences, knowledge and expertise.
“We don’t take it for granted, your choice of Kenya as the preferred destination to benchmark on matters education in the region,” said the PS
Benchmarking in Kenya gives the country a status of leadership in world best practices in education, to borrow best practices to enrich their own.
Senior Ministry of Education officials took the delegates to institutions and gave detailed presentations befitting expectations for their visit, including milestones on philosophy, vision, mission, goals and structure and evolution of Kenya’s education system, financing education in Kenya from childhood to university.
Ministry Officials enumerated strategies on how to overcome myriad of challenges as expected in implementing educational programmes, from basic education through tertiary to higher education.
Quality assurance for learning outcomes featured prominently, where the Department shared several strategies in place in Kenya, as well school feeding programs, ICT integration, digitization in education, teacher professional development, among others.
Participation of women in school leadership was emphasized, considering there are more female teachers than men, with an alarmingly disproportionate ratio in leadership positions between the two genders calling for affirmative action, to ensure gender equality.
The three countries agreed on a way forward to encourage exchange programs for students, teachers and government officials, to Fast-track region’s integration and a borderless education system in the future.
By Joseph Kamolo Mutua
