- Kisii University will host education stakeholders from across the Gusii region next week.
- The convention will examine curriculum reforms, staffing, infrastructure, higher education and skills development challenges.
- Some stakeholders want the meeting to produce lasting solutions rather than resolutions that remain unimplemented.
Kisii University is set to host the Gusii Education Stakeholders Convention next week, led by Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba.
According to sources from Kisii University, the meeting will be held on September 10 and 11 at the university’s main campus.
The convention will focus on the state of education in the Gusii region, including academic performance, preparedness for Competency-Based Education, university funding and sustainability, staffing and infrastructure challenges, and the strengthening of skills-based training.
As the date approaches, some key education stakeholders, including pioneers associated with the institution, have raised concerns over whether previous initiatives intended to strengthen education and skills development in the region have been adequately sustained.
“We had a big vision at the inauguration of the institution and anticipated those who came after us to boost them instead of wrapping them in limbo,” said one of the sources.
The concerns come as stakeholders prepare to use the convention to examine both the progress made in the region and challenges that continue to affect education outcomes.
The meeting comes about a decade after a similar education stakeholders’ forum reportedly hosted by the then Kisii County Education Board Chairman Prof Henry Onderi.
The meeting brought together academics from different parts of the country and beyond, including veteran Kiswahili scholar and author Prof Chacha Nyaigoti Chacha.
Focus on actionable recommendations
The earlier meeting proposed programmes and interventions considered relevant to education development in the region, but some stakeholders say many of the recommendations were not subsequently implemented.
The forthcoming convention is therefore expected to provide another opportunity for educationists, policymakers and political leaders to examine the region’s education priorities and agree on practical interventions.
Among the issues expected to feature prominently are Competency-Based Education, teacher recruitment and deployment, infrastructure, university education reforms, TVET, research, innovation, employability and the future skills needs of learners.
The convention is also expected to examine how education institutions can strengthen links with industry and ensure learners acquire skills relevant to changing economic and labour-market demands.
The Ogamba-led convention is expected to bring together county governors, senators, Members of Parliament, county education directors, Teachers Service Commission officials, school heads, university dons, teachers’ unions and parents’ associations.
Kisii University Vice Chancellor Prof Nathan Ogechi will host the gathering.
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The convention, themed “Reimagining Education in the Gusii Region through Collaboration and Innovation for Sustainable Development,” is expected to bring stakeholders from Kisii and Nyamira counties together to review education challenges, share experiences and develop proposals for improving learning outcomes across the region.
By Enock Okong’o
