- Jackline Kebong’o examines what the inaugural Gusii education convention could achieve beyond regional dialogue.
- She argues that collaboration among schools, universities, parents and policymakers can strengthen Kenya’s education system.
- Its real impact, she says, will depend on turning resolutions into measurable action after delegates leave.
The announcement of the inaugural Gusii Education Stakeholders Convention, scheduled for September 10–11, 2026, at Kisii University, has generated considerable interest among educationists and other stakeholders in the larger Gusii region.
Coming under the theme “Reimagining Education in the Gusii Region Through Collaboration and Innovation for Sustainable Development,” the convention presents an opportunity to pause, reflect and ask a fundamental question: Can a regional education conversation become the catalyst for a broader transformation of education in Kenya?
The answer may depend less on the grandeur of the gathering and more on what happens after the delegates disperse.
Education is too important to be left to schools and teachers alone. It is a shared responsibility involving learners, teachers, parents, school administrators, universities and other institutions of higher learning, communities, government agencies, policymakers, religious organisations, the private sector and other partners.
When these actors pull in different directions, even well-intentioned reforms can struggle to achieve their intended outcomes.
The Gusii Education Stakeholders Convention therefore arrives at an opportune moment. The region, like many other parts of Kenya, continues to grapple with learner discipline, teacher motivation, parental involvement, career guidance, infrastructure, digital learning, transition, examination integrity, learner wellbeing, skills development and effective curriculum implementation.
Connecting basic and higher education
One of the most important dimensions of the convention should be the relationship between basic education and higher education.
For too long, the two levels have sometimes appeared to operate as separate worlds. Yet the success of a university student is partly shaped by the quality of preparation received in primary and secondary school. Similarly, universities have a responsibility to influence what happens before learners reach their gates.
Universities should therefore be more actively involved in school mentorship, teacher professional development, educational research, innovation, career guidance and community outreach.
The presence of Kisii University provides an excellent opportunity to demonstrate this connection. Higher education institutions can become laboratories where challenges confronting schools are researched, tested and transformed into practical solutions.
A university lecturer researching learner motivation, for instance, should be able to work with teachers in schools. Education students undergoing teacher preparation should interact meaningfully with practising educators. School leaders should have opportunities to engage university experts on emerging issues in educational management.
This creates a continuum of education rather than isolated levels of learning.
One important lesson is that no single stakeholder possesses all the answers to Kenya’s education challenges.
Teachers understand classroom realities. Parents understand the social and economic circumstances of learners. Universities provide research and professional expertise. County governments understand local development priorities. The Ministry provides policy direction, while communities offer valuable indigenous knowledge and social support.
Bringing these perspectives together can produce solutions that are more realistic and sustainable.
Educationists should particularly pay attention to innovations that can be replicated beyond the Gusii region. A successful approach to learner mentorship, parental engagement, digital monitoring, career guidance, teacher support, school leadership or community participation should not remain confined to one institution or county.
There is a need to document, evaluate and scale up successful practices.
Higher education institutions can play a critical role here by conducting research to establish which innovations actually improve learning outcomes rather than relying on assumptions or anecdotes.
If the convention is to have a lasting impact, it should strengthen the relationship between educational research and classroom practice.
Kenya has no shortage of education research. The challenge is often translating research findings into practical interventions that teachers and school leaders can use.
Universities should therefore be encouraged to develop partnerships with schools where researchers and practitioners jointly identify problems, conduct studies and test interventions.
Such partnerships could examine areas such as learner discipline, teacher motivation, technology in education, school leadership, transition to higher education, career choices, examination integrity and the changing skills required by the labour market.
The classroom should become an important destination for research findings—not merely the university library.
The convention should also examine how well basic education prepares learners for life after secondary school.
Career guidance cannot end with telling learners which courses to select. Young people need accurate information about university programmes, technical and vocational education, emerging careers, labour-market trends, entrepreneurship and the competencies required in the modern workplace.
There is therefore a strong case for closer collaboration between secondary schools, universities, TVET institutions, employers and career guidance professionals.
Higher education institutions can open their doors to secondary school learners through mentorship programmes, career fairs, innovation challenges and academic outreach. Such engagement can help learners make informed decisions instead of choosing courses because of peer pressure, prestige or incomplete information.
Innovation, teachers and parents
Kenyan education has sometimes been characterised by competition—between schools, counties and institutions—particularly around examination results and sporting achievements.
While healthy competition can encourage excellence, education development requires another ingredient: collaboration.
Schools can learn from one another without losing their identity. Teachers can share professional experiences. Universities can partner with schools to conduct research and mentorship. Counties can support education initiatives within their mandates. Parents can become genuine partners rather than being called upon only when schools need financial support or when discipline has broken down.
Higher education institutions can also collaborate with industry so that university and college programmes remain responsive to economic realities.
The convention could therefore inspire a culture in which stakeholders ask not only, “How is my institution performing?” but also, “How can my institution contribute to improving education around me?”
Innovation should not become a fashionable word that produces impressive conference presentations but little change on the ground.
For innovation to matter, it must respond to real educational challenges.
Technology can be used to strengthen communication between schools and parents, monitor learner attendance, support teaching and learning, provide career information and improve administrative efficiency. Universities can also use their research and innovation capacity to develop solutions that schools and communities can realistically adopt.
However, innovation must remain inclusive. A technological solution that excludes learners because of poverty, poor connectivity or inadequate infrastructure cannot be considered a complete solution.
Any serious conversation about education transformation must give adequate attention to the teacher.
Policies may be formulated in boardrooms, but curriculum implementation takes place largely in classrooms. A motivated, professionally supported and adequately equipped teacher can make a profound difference in a learner’s life.
The convention should therefore interrogate teacher welfare, professional development, leadership, workload, deployment, mentorship and opportunities for teachers to innovate.
Higher education institutions also have a role in supporting teachers beyond initial training. Continuous professional learning, action research and partnerships between practising teachers and university faculty can strengthen professional practice.
Teachers should be encouraged to become reflective practitioners. Instead of asking only whether a syllabus has been covered, educators should ask whether meaningful learning has taken place.
Another important lesson should be the need to redefine parental involvement.
Parents should not enter the education conversation only when their children are facing disciplinary problems or when schools are requesting fees and resources. They are essential partners in academic progress, character formation, career development and learner wellbeing.
Schools therefore need deliberate structures for meaningful parent engagement.
When parents understand what schools are trying to achieve and schools understand the realities facing families, the learner stands a better chance of succeeding.
From Gusii to Kenya
Perhaps the greatest test of the convention will be whether its lessons can travel beyond Kisii and Nyamira.
Kenya has diverse regions with different social, economic and cultural realities. Nevertheless, many education challenges are shared.
Lessons generated in the Gusii region can provide models for other counties if they are properly documented, tested and adapted to local circumstances.
The convention could, therefore, become a prototype for regional education dialogues across the country, linking basic education, higher education, government, communities and industry.
Imagine similar conversations bringing together education stakeholders in the Coast, Western, Rift Valley, Central, Eastern and North Eastern regions, with lessons eventually feeding into national education policy.
Such an approach could complement existing national structures by ensuring that policy conversations are informed by experiences from the grassroots.
The most important day of the convention may not be September 10 or 11. It may be the day stakeholders return to their institutions and begin implementing what they have learned.
Conferences often produce excellent speeches, declarations and recommendations. The challenge is implementation.
Stakeholders should therefore consider establishing clear follow-up mechanisms, assigning responsibilities, setting timelines and measuring outcomes.
Universities could be particularly useful in monitoring and evaluating the implementation of agreed interventions, while schools and counties provide the practical environment in which those interventions are tested.
Otherwise, the convention risks becoming another well-organised gathering whose resolutions disappear into files.
The region needs actionable commitments, not merely memorable speeches.
The Gusii Education Stakeholders Convention is more than a regional event. It is an invitation to rethink how society approaches education.
It offers educationists an opportunity to look beyond examination statistics and consider the whole learner; beyond individual institutions and consider the education ecosystem; beyond short-term interventions and consider sustainability; and beyond criticism to collaboration.
Most importantly, it offers an opportunity to bridge the divide between basic and higher education.
The Gusii region has an opportunity to demonstrate that educational transformation can begin with honest conversations, shared responsibility, research, practical innovation and strong partnerships.
The ultimate question, therefore, should not be whether the convention will produce impressive resolutions.
It should be whether those resolutions will produce better classrooms, more motivated teachers, more engaged parents, responsible learners, stronger institutions, relevant higher education and improved learning outcomes.
If the answer is yes, then the Gusii Education Stakeholders Convention could become more than an inaugural event. It could mark the beginning of a new chapter in regional education—and offer Kenya a model worth studying, adapting and taking to other parts of the country.
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Collaborate. Innovate. Transform.
The real test begins when the delegates leave the convention hall.
By Jackline Kebong’o
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