New policy to ensure constant learning

BY MICHAEL WESONGA

Nairobi,Kenya:The Ministry of Education is committed to ensuring universal access and uninterrupted transition at all levels of learning in its new policy alignment with the new Constitution.

Education PS George Godia said this would be addressed by the newly enacted Education Act 2013, whose implementation strategy is highlighted in the Kenya National Education Sector Support Programme. “Our new policy is to ensure that we bring all our children in schools and maintain uninterrupted transition at all education levels because they are entitled to education as a basic right,” he said.

The ministry’s accounting officer said that Chapter 43 of the Constitution stipulates the right of every child to education while Article 53 provided for free and compulsory education.

He added that the ministry had already instituted a study to inform the process of ensuring education was actually free and compulsory.

“Besides stating the right to education we bear the obligation to ensure we have adequate supporting infrastructure so that come next year no child is left out at any of the education system levels,” he expounded.

TRANSITION RATE

Prof Godia noted they had carried out the necessary needs assessment to expand identified schools to raise the current transition rate from 77 to 100 per cent in fulfilling the Constitution requirement. “The initiative for free day secondary education was configured in our secondary school strategy of establishing more day schools even though parents eventually tend to gravitate towards boarding schools,” he explained.

He opined that Vision 2030 visualised education as an enabler in instilling certain skills, knowledge and attitudes that would propel the country’s aspirations.

The PS said integration of Information and Communication Technology in the teaching-learning process was at the centre of the new policy and had already supplied computer packages to 2,000 secondary schools in the country.