By Kennedy Rotich
Several disadvantaged schools in 30 Counties are going to benefit from Shs22 billion Secondary Education Quality Improvement Project (SEQIP) which is being implemented by a State Department of Early Learning, Basic Education; Directorate of Projects, Coordination & Delivery.
The programme is being implemented by the State Department of Early Learning, Basic Education; Directorate of Projects, Co-ordination and Delivery.
This programme is going to be carried out in 110 Sub-Counties that are economically and educationally challenged in Kenya at a cost of Sh22 billion.
A Senior Assistant Director of Education who doubles up as the National Coordinator of SEQIP, Jane Mbugua said that the programme shall identify sub-counties in Vihiga County by carrying out a need-based assessment; their incidence of poverty, retention rates at primary level and transition rates from primary to secondary level.
“This Programme has four components that are all meant to improve the quality of our education in primary and secondary schools,” Mbugua said adding that they hope to achieve it through addressing the critical supply side issues, that are currently constraining the teaching and learning in schools, using a results-based financing modality.
“We are currently having deficiencies in quantity, quality, and classroom practices, as well as availability of textbooks. These, we can all agree, are key contributors to poor learning outcomes. We therefore aim to alleviate teacher shortages, seek to improve the quality of classroom instruction and also at attaining a 1:1 student to textbook ratio,” she said.
She further said: “We are also aiming at improving retention in the upper Primary and transition to Secondary Schools through supporting and financing sets of interventions such as provision of a minimum package of Safe School Infrastructure (MPSSI), and ICT- enabled training facilities for education managers, through an investment project financing modality and advocacy and social support.”
She added that the ministry through SEQIP is also aiming at bettering the retention in schools through gender sensitization, offering scholarship and mentoring interventions for poor and vulnerable children in targeted schools in the county, through results-based financing modality.
Mbugua, who was a guest speaker, was addressing over 200 Vihiga County schools heads at a five-day KESSHA workshop held in Nakuru.
The KESSHA chair Albert Masiolo expressed confidence that the conference shall be beneficial to the schools heads even as they get themselves acquainted with the emerging issues and reforms being implemented by the government in education sector.
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