By Our Reporter
A joint Mission comprising senior Education officials and World Bank has carried out an inspection of the effectiveness of the early grade mathematics (EGM) 1 and 2 in Public Primary Schools throughout the country.
Joint mission officials will inspect schools in several counties including Taita Taveta, Nandi, Kisumu, Homa Bay, Trans Nzoia, Busia, Laikipia, and Nairobi.
The exercise, which is called classroom observation, will entail senior education officials and administrators to sit in an actual classroom environment and watch, and take notes of the way teachers handle, in this case, literacy lessons.
The purpose of the exercise is to provide teachers with constructive critical feedback aimed at improving their classroom management and instructional techniques.
The mission will also look at various aspects of education and how they conform to the best management practices in terms of procumbent, finance and social safeguards.
The two day exercise is conducted under the Kenya Primary Education Development (PRIEDE) project, which is a grant of US$ 88.4 Million from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and is being implemented under the supervision of the World Bank to support Early Grade Mathematics (EGM).
The grant, approved by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) is benefiting 6 million pupils in grade 1 and 2 who will benefit from improved early grade mathematics textbooks.
This funding will help Kenya to address key challenges in primary education as well to provide catalytic funding to help Kenya address areas not yet fully covered by other initiatives in basic education.
The National Coordinator of the Project Martha Ekirapa said the government has distributed 7.6 million textbooks on mathematics which has helped the government to attain 1:1 textbook to pupil level in Standard 1 and 2.
In addition, some 40,000 teachers have benefitted from new methodologies of early grade mathematics instruction through improved in-service training and regular pedagogical supervision and support.
The project aims at improving the teaching and learning of mathematics which subject is seen as the foundation for quality education.
The GPE is a product of the 2000 Dakar framework of action when the international community declared that ‘no country with a credible sector plan will be thwarted from achieving the Education for All goals by lack of resource’. Since 2002, The GPE has been helping developing country partners develop and implement sound education sector plans.
