The Ministry of Education and Teachers Service Commission (TSC) have held talks on a national level to discuss the current state of education in the country. The principal secretary in the Ministry of Education Belio Kipsang told the media that the engagements will also go down to the County level.
He said that the discussions are to ensure that there is quality education and learning in schools. “We want to ensure that our kids are acquiring competencies and abilities that are expected of them at various levels,” said Kipsang.
He also said that the government and the Ministry of Education, in particular, have been working together to complete various programmes including; the school feeding programme and the national deworming programme. “As a government, we have substantially increased our budget this year to Kshs 2.5billion for the school feeding programme because we have to appreciate that it is critical for a child to at least have a stable meal to have the capacity to learn,” he said. He added that this programme will help to sustain and retain children in schools mainly in hazard areas.
For the last two years, the Ministry of Education has had the national deworming programme in 27 Counties so as to prevent ill health amongst children, which is one of the major factors that prevent children from going to school to learn. The PS said that the Ministry is working very closely with its partners to ensure that deworming is done and nutrition achieved in schools.
He also said that the Education Ministry has supplied books to class 8 students this term and also to secondary schools in phase one of the project adding that phase two will ensure that all the other subjects books will be distributed in term two. He said that within the next two years all students will have instructional materials on a one to one ratio for quality learning in the country.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) CEO Nancy Macharia said that they have come up with a teachers appraisal system for classroom teachers and the performance contract for headteachers to enhance accountability in schools and prevent absenteeism of teachers. She also stated that the Education Ministry and the Commission have field officers from zonal to County offices to observe classrooms and supervise the teachers.