By Fredrick Odiero
Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Ezekiel Machogu has assured teachers that the government recognizes them as a cardinal pillar in the education sector that drives and sustains social, economic and political pillars that influence the growth of the country.
Speaking in a speech read on his behalf by Nyanza Regional Director of Education Nelson Sifuna in Kisumu during the KNUT 62nd Annual Delegates Conference (ADC) he said the government will continue to commit towards working with teachers as they seek to improve the teaching and learning outcomes that will provide wholesome citizens for the future.
“It is in this regard that I have honored your invitation to attend the 62nd Annual Delegates Conference here in Kisumu,” he said
CS Machogu said that in the 2022/23 financial year the education sector was allocated Ksh 544.4 billion; the highest share among ministries of the Country’s Ksh 3.31 trillion budget.
He said the government was proud of the major strides that KNUT had made since its formation to improve the welfare of its members who form the bulk of the staff who teach in primary schools.
The CS noted the Ministry will work towards strengthening day secondary schools to guarantee access to quality education and reduce the cost of education.
On higher education, he said the Education Charter proposes to establish a public university in every county in tandem with the University Act of 2012 and the universities will be made to focus on their comparative advantage in their training.
“To increase access and reduce the cost of university education and implement a 100 per cent transition to higher education institutions, the government will increase the number of technical universities from the current three to eight across the eight regions,” he said.
The government, he continued, also plans to build low-cost boarding schools in arid areas, provide grants to county governments for ECDE learners and improve safety of learners and teachers in insecurity prone areas.
“On Technical and Vocational Training the Government intends to allocate conditional grants to county governments within the first year in office to ensure that in addition to the existing 1,200, we will construct 250 VTCs in wards that currently do not have any,” he said.
