By Our Reporter
The Ministry of Education in partnership with Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture is holding an international conference on enhancing education in Kenya.
The three-day event themed ‘Co-creation of Curriculum and Training, Policy Development and linking Education to industry’ is seeking evidence-based solutions through data and research to foster learning and linkages between tertiary institutions and the labour market.
Speaking in Mombasa during the opening ceremony of the conference, Education Chief Administrative Secretary Dr. Sarah Ruto lauded the conference as timely, given the ongoing reform initiatives in the country’s education sector.
“This conference provides a good opportunity where education stakeholders in Kenya and Finland will learn from each other and engage in a bid to enhance education standards,” Dr. Ruto said.
The conference will also emphasize the provision of excellent teaching and learning environment to ensure quality learning in all levels of education.
“There is need to align the curricula at all levels to international best practices in education systems in order to make learning more meaningful,” she observed.
Similar sentiments were shared by Dr. Carita Prokki, the Head of Finland delegation in the conference.
According to Dr. Prokki, the partnership will enable the stakeholders to benchmark, learn and act on what works for their countries.
“It is my honest wish that this dialogue will enable us to share and commit ourselves to developing the education sector,” she noted.
She added that to prepare learners for the workplace, the conference will interrogate the skills gap between the industry needs and the training offered in tertiary institutions.
According to the Principal Secretary for the State Department for Post Training Skills and Development Mr. Alfred Cheruiyot, weak linkages between education, training and industry is the cause of mismatch between the skills required in the labour market and the skills offered in education and training.
University Education and Research Principal Secretary Amb. Simon Nabukwesi reiterated the government’s commitment to align the education sector to the ever-changing industry needs.
Also present during the opening ceremony of the conference were Implementation of Curriculum Reforms Principal Secretary Prof. Fatuma Chege and her Vocational and Technical Training Counterpart Dr. Margaret Mwakima who sent a representative.
