By Tony Wafula
Private institutions in Western region can sigh with relief as the Ministry of Education (MoE) has approved to run some of their programmes following inspections that gave them a clean bill of health.
In an exclusive interview with Education News recently, West Kenya College director Omar Mabonga welcomed the re- registration that will streamline training in the private sector, asking all the colleges that were approved to follow the ministry’s guidelines to ensure that they produce professionals who fit the job market.
Lauding the ministry for the positive move, Mabonga said the long approval stand-off had affected all the private institutions in the country where some have been shut down. He said before the approval, inspections and many follow-up activities were done.
“We have gone through many challenges since the government decided to change the curriculum. It is the private institutions that were affected,” Mabonga added.
He was happy his college was among those that were cleared to offer services, saying the rigorous procedures were important to allow genuine players to operate. He called on the new Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) to improve regulations of the ministry.
“We have a lot of expectations from our new Education CS because we want the ministry to be streamlined so that everybody enjoys. Let not the guidelines press others,” he said.
He pointed out that the ministry has approved West Kenya College in Kanduyi Constituency to offer Primary Teacher Education and Diploma in ECDE training.
“The government has opened opportunities for all prospective learners who want to join the teaching fraternity and attain knowledge. Doors are open for you all,” he said.
He affirmed that the private colleges collaborate with both private and public universities to give avenues for students who intend to upgrade to degree certificates.
He added that the ministry had also permitted them to offer upgrading programmes for the teachers who had already trained for a period of 9 months.
Commenting on the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), he urged the review taskforce to involve all stakeholders to improve and implement it better because it carried the aspirations of many Kenyans and future generations.
“CBC is the best curriculum ever. The only thing that needs to be done is to review it and improve where necessary but most important is to remove the burden from parents,” he said.
He argued that for the ministry to achieve the one hundred per cent transition, the CBC challenges should be addressed.
He affirmed that the college is ready to adopt the CBC curriculum after review and rectification by the taskforce.
