Education ministry will ensure country meet vision 2030 education goals
By Nganyi Obiero
The ministry of education science and technology has reinstated its commitment to ensuring quality education as its priority to ensure the country meets its vision 2030 goals.
While addressing graduates during the 6th Kibabii diploma teachers training college graduation at Kibabii the representative from the ministry of education Jacinta Apiyo assured Kenyans that as a ministry their main goal is ensuring children from this country achieve quality education.
“For our children to have quality education then our institutions must churn out quality teachers that are competent. Apiyo said. As a ministry they are offering grants and development funds to colleges and other tertiary institutions so as to reduce the fees that students pay to ensure thise institutions produce quality teachers.”
Apiyo said that there are only 3 public teachers training colleges in the country Kibabii being 1 of them and recently they added Lugari diploma teachers training which is still under construction and many other private teachers training colleges.
“The agenda 2030 on sustainable development goals has focused on relevance in education, quality of education, inclusiveness and lifelong education and these are the issues that the ministry of education is ready to undertake and achieve in line with vision 2030.” She said.
She said that the ministry recognizes the role of the teachers service commission in teacher management to ensure quality education is provided for the young Kenyans.
“Teachers training is a national concern and I appeal to TSC to fill the gap when it is in a position to do so.”
She thanked TSC for ensuring performance contracts is in schools which is in line with international standards and it needed to be encouraged so as to meet the goal of education remarks that were seconded by the representative of TSC Dinah Mwaita.
Teachers urged to embrace performance contracting
Mrs. Mwaita asked the teachers to embrace performance contracting and appraisal system as they are only meant to enhance quality education.
She added that they had devolved TSC offices and one doesn’t need to go to Nairobi to seek for services adding that employments are now done at the county level after jobs are announced.
“To monitor what teachers are teaching in schools it’s a requirement for teachers to register before employment whether in private or public institutions. TSC has automated its systems and one can register from any place.” Apiyo said.
“For us to ensure quality education we must have quality teachers teaching our children and if one is found teaching without being registered is illegal and will be incriminated.” Sha added.
She however noted that teacher shortage was a very big concern for them as there are around 290,000 teachers employed by TSC and the budget allocation being allocated to them was a big determinant in the number of employments being done by them.
The chief principal of Kibabii diploma teachers training college Jessica Simiyu who was presiding her last graduation as the principal of that institution said that teacher training is very expensive and un affordable to many students in the country appealing to the government to consider increasing its subsidies in colleges as well as modernizing the facilities in the institutions.
She informed TSC that diploma teachers are among the best teachers in the country however the guidelines of employment locked out most of those teachers yet many secondary schools prefer them.
Former Bumula MP Bifwoli Wakoli asked TSC to consider promoting one of the teachers in that institution to take Mrs. Simiyu position instead of bringing a new principal from another place.
“We are not against a new principal coming to take over but this institution has its unique challenges that only one who is here can understand those challenges and be able to maneuver the institution from those challenges.” Wakoli said.