- The initiative is expected to avail information to avert a crisis in education, aid in policy development, and transform the teaching practice in Kenya.
- Sustainable Development Goal 4 seeks to ensure access to quality education for all.
- The partnership will advise the Competency Based Curriculum to ensure it attains its goal of producing holistic learners.
The Ministry of Education (MoE) has partnered with Education.org to launch an International Working Group (IWG), an initiative set to improve the education sector by providing research.
Elyas Jillaow, Director General of the Ministry of Education, led the launch of the International Working Group on June 14.
It aims to improve education in Kenya through the provision of evidence.
The initiative is expected to avail information to avert a crisis in education, aid in policy development, and transform the teaching practice in Kenya.
“We are aware the education sector faces a number of challenges in form of child abuse, learning challenges, drug abuse and violence.
This workshop initiative will ensure we solve these challenges by better planning,” said the DG, standing in for the Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu.
The IWG comprises 35 delegates from 17 countries, 9 of whom are African, and will reflect the interest in the group’s work for education policymaking and practice on the continent.
Education.org
Education.org is an independent initiative dedicated to bringing the best available evidence to education leaders worldwide.
While speaking during a press conference on the sidelines of the initiative’s launch, Dr. Randa Grob-Zakhary, the Founder and CEO of Education.org, termed the use of evidence-based policymaking as a challenge, not just in Kenya but globally.
“Evidence infrastructure is still low; the partnership will enhance capacity for the ministry to generate more information by creating global resources for research,” said the CEO.
She noted that they would supplement what is already there and help to narrow down the general policies to cater to specific gaps in the education sector.
Dr. Grob-Zakhary further stated that Kenya is a pioneer partner and the first beneficiary of the 3-year-long project LEARRN (Leading with Evidence to Achieve Real Reform Now) and benefits from their strategic goals of bridging the knowledge gaps.
“I am proud Education.org has assembled a distinguished group of global experts passionate about improving evidence use to carry out this vital work,” she commented.
Of the key roles that the non-profit will work on in Kenya, Dr. Grob-Zakhary says the first topic has already been selected and will focus on learning recovery, accelerated education, and catch-up after learning was decelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“A distinguishing feature of our work is that we consult closely with MoE to select these topics. While we can’t address everything, we are in the process with the DG’s technical committee members of deciding more topics based on the current challenges and will be choosing them in the next month,” Dr. Grob-Zakhary explained.
Education.org has strategic goals, encapsulated in the Strategy 2023-2028, dubbed Ready for lift off! for establishing an evidence-synthetic gold standard for education leaders and catalyzing a transformation in how education leaders work with evidence.
Gaps in Kenya’s education sector
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 seeks to ensure access to quality education for all.
In Kenya, different factors have disrupted education, with a study by Save the Children showing that approximately 3.5 million children missed school this year due to drought-related challenges.
While various efforts and policies have been put in place to improve teaching and learning in Kenya, there are many notable gaps that can be solved through harnessing research and an evidence-based approach.
High numbers of out-of-school children, especially in the nomadic communities, stand to be a challenge to equal access to education.
Addressing this issue, the Managing Director at Education.org, Dr. Kilemi Mworia, said they worked with the National Council for Nomadic Education in Kenya (NACONEK) to ensure continuity in learning in these communities.
“NACONEK has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Education.org for support to the ministry in strengthening its capacity to use education evidence to inform its decisions.
This is particularly in relation to increasing access to learning for girls, internally displaced persons, and learners from impoverished communities,” he commented.
The DG, Mr. Abdi, said that interventions such as the introduction of mobile schools in nomadic communities were unsuccessful as there is no demand for education in these areas.
“Education interventions are in two aspects; supply and demand. However, the demand is low because of the household’s way of life yet the government-driven supply of teachers and resources is provided,” Mr. Abdi commented.
He explained that they are supporting households to increase demand for learning by giving scholarships, school feeding programs, and dignity kits to menstruating school-going girls.
Basis of education is learning
Generally, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that two out of every three 10-year-olds globally cannot read a simple sentence.
Africa has a particular challenge as a study by UNICEF shows that children in Africa are seven times less likely than children in the rest of the world to be prepared for the future in reading and five times less likely to be ready for the future through mathematics.
Dr. Mworia emphasized the concept of foundational learning to ensure effectiveness in literacy and numeracy learning right from the beginning.
“If we come up with a plan for education as a country, the first attempt is to ensure our children read because if they cannot read in comprehension, then it becomes a challenge to learn other subjects.
This is where solid evidence and research comes in and should be availed not only to decision and policymakers but also to the teachers,” he explained.
Expected impact
On his part, the DG noted that quite several learners are underperforming in examinations and other assessments despite being in class.
“Research will advise us on how best we can teach these children using effective teaching and learning approaches and use of data,” he expected.
Further, he noted that the partnership will advise the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) to ensure it attains its goal of producing holistic learners.
“A curriculum is a crucial part of education; the evidence generated will inform the CBC development and assist in all spheres of education by looking at the challenges related to its development and implementation,” he assured more research to see the curriculum succeed.
This comes as the new curriculum is currently struggling with challenges, pushing it closer to abolishment—seeing that its policy framework is not firmly anchored, Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers are allegedly untrained, and schools have inadequate infrastructure for a smooth transition.
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Mr. Abdi disclosed that the ministry would work with Education.org for the next three to four years to generate evidence, mostly for planning and educational policy development.
Hope CS Machogu will take note of the strategies proposed by Education.org and implement them.