Dear Uwezo Kenya Partners, Volunteers, and friends!

Greetings from the Uwezo Kenya Office. Please download our second partner update, with information about the assessment, new and upcoming events and more! We would also love to hear your feedback, views and comments so please e-mail us at kenya@uwezo.net

We thank you for your continued interest, and investment in Uwezo Kenya!

Elimu Bora, Jukumu Langu!

Sincerely,

The Uwezo Kenya Team

To download the weekly update, please click here —> Uwezo Kenya Partner Update #2

“To teach or not to teach after pupils finish school?”  has drawn a heated debate that has eventually led to the scrapping of extra lessons or tuition in our learning institutions. But even though tuition is now illegal, there is still a silent tug of war between parents and teachers on whether pupils should attend extra classes after schools close. Uwezo’s Regional Manager Dr Sara Ruto is interviewed on her opinion as NTV’s Sharon Baranga revisits this contentious subject in this week’s Learning Curve.

To watch the video, click here

12th April 2013
Zipporah Ongwenyi
Uwezo Regional Office

In the mid afternoon humid heat of Morogoro, a group of twenty five people sit in three rows in a tightsemi circle, taking in the little solace that the overworked overhead fans can offer from the heat.

It is a mixed group, where digital immigrants are interspersed with digital natives. For in this group are people who played out their childhood in the decade of independence in Tanzania, when optimism was high, and there was a spring in people’s steps. In the same group are people born in the late seventies and early eighties, when we, as a continent, were already disillusioned with the failure to launch.

What unites these people is the desire to improve education. They have chosen to work with Uwezo, a citizen led initiative, to promote learning in East Africa. Uwezo Tanzania, in building even better working systems, has engaged thisgroup, now referred to as regional coordinators, to coordinate the activities of Uwezo in various clusters of districts. They are to have oversight, and offer support to district coordinators in implementing the annual assessment.

To say the group is eager would be an understatement. They are like wet sponges, ready and willing to soak up any drop of dew, which can quench their thirst for knowledge that will help them to competently carry out their mandate.

A young man is invited to take charge of the next session. He shyly stands up and makes his way to the front. As soon as he opens his mouth to speak, a great transformation occurs. His shy demeanour instantly melts, and he comes alive. He is passionate, engaging, and ‘knows his stuff’. He confidently responds to questions, and when participants’ brows crease in deep reflection on some of the tasks, he easily and readily reassures them that this is a task they are up to, a task that they can ably carry out. He pacifies, and infuses a sort of soft and unseen power that completely energizes the group, and opens their eyes to immense possibility.

But who is this young man? His journey in Uwezo is a story which warms the heart, and speaks of the power that opportunity can offer.  Like many a young man in Kenya, Francis completed his form four, but was unable to proceed to higher schooling. You see, his grandfather, who had always worked hard to take care of his schooling, died before Francis could share his dream of going to college. What was he to do?

After taking stock of his loss, his enterprising spirit kicked in. He ran odd errands to earn a living. Along the way, he bought himself a bicycle and a camera. The bicycle transported him to the odd birthday party, the once-in-a-while wedding, and to the numerous village paths in his village and ridges beyond, where young couples sought to immortalize their love digitally. He took photographs.  In time, he had saved an amount of money that was only enough to enrol himself into a driving school, and also throw in a few computer packages.

With these newly earned skills, he got a job as a driver. As fate would have it, Uwezo Kenya outsourced its transport needs to the company where he was employed. This was in 2009 when Uwezowas in its pilot phase. Francis drove various members of the team to various destinations countrywide.  He remembers trips to the districts of Kitui, Kericho, Narok, Bureti,Sotik, and others in those early days.  He interacted with Uwezo work, and liked the spirit of enthusiasm he encountered with the leadership and the rest of the Uwezo fraternity.

When Uwezo Kenya was able to purchase an office vehicle, a driver was needed. The vacancy was advertised. Francis applied, went through the interview process and was accepted.  Now, he could begin re-writing his dreams in earnest.  As Francis says “In my mind, I knew that driving was not the end of my life. I just had to do something”.  He continued with driving, but was also very resourceful. He learnt by observing and being involved in other duties, beyond his job description.   Spurred by the commitment to education that he saw both in the work of Uwezo, and in his colleagues, he went back to school and studied for a certificate in Management.  Gradually, he was able to attain a higher diploma in both management, and purchasing and supplies.  He soon got a promotion to the position of program assistant for logistics, and later moved to administrative assistant in charge of logistics, a position he still holds.

Being part of the meeting that Francis was addressing, I could not help but have a mix of emotions. I have known Francis since his days as a driver in the transport and tour company, the early days when Uwezo, was still largely an idea that was birthing. I was therefore experiencing an array of emotions. I felt like a mother hen-protective, like a proud parent-showcasing a talented child, like a believer-embracing an answered prayer and finally, the vain spirit in me also nudged for space, and I felt like a king maker-part of the stable of elders that produced the king.For here was Francis, facilitating a session with an international audience, and he was perfectly holding his own.

To whom and to what does he credit his achievements? First is self belief. Francis says “I can do anything. As long as I am shown, I will work it out, and get my way to the end”.  Secondly, he credits Uwezo.  In Uwezo, he found an organization that gives employees a chance for growth, and encourages the pursuit of higher education-Colleagues supported him and answered his questions as he struggled with homework, and his country manager ensured he had the time to attend class after work. He also gained confidence in the participatory staff meetings held weekly, where everyone’s views are respected. In his words “You prepare yourself well for the meeting, so as not to present nonsense”.  Lastly, he credits the Uwezo idea on improving learning outcomes, as it spurred his imagination and re-energized his ambitions.  He certainly has leant a lot, and still going.

In the next five years, he hopes to complete his bachelor’s degree in Strategic/Project management. His is a story of change, happening right in the Uwezo office.

Dear Uwezo Kenya Partners, Volunteers, and friends!

Greetings from the Uwezo Kenya Office. We are very excited to bring you our first ever weekly update, with information about the assessment, new and upcoming events and more! We would also love to hear your feedback, views and comments so please e-mail us at kenya@uwezo.net

We thank you for your continued interest, and investment in Uwezo Kenya!

Elimu Bora, Jukumu Langu!

Sincerely,

The Uwezo Kenya Team

To download the weekly update, please click here —> Uwezo Kenya: Partner Update: 001

Kenya’s education system is in deep crisis. Primary education is free but more than one million children are out of school and those in school are not learning.

A survey of primary school teachers revealed that some teachers scored 17 per cent in a math test based on the syllabus they teach. For the massive outlay of public resources, 6.7 per cent of GNP, our education accomplishes too little for our children and society.

In 2011 Uwezo, a civil society group that monitors educational achievement, showed that two out three pupils in standard three failed a standard two literacy and numeracy test. Among standard three pupils, only 28 per cent from the poorest households had achieved expected numeracy and literacy, compared to 48 per cent in the richest households.

Hence, education could also be exacerbating rather than ameliorating social inequality in Kenya. Moreover, transition rates are depressing. In 2011, the gross enrollment ratio in secondary school was 48 per cent, woefully low compared to 115 per cent in primary school.

To read more, please click here

 

According to article 53 of our constitution, children have a fundamental right to free and compulsory basic education. Our government has pledged to uphold this right.However, although we know that our children are attending school in impressive numbers, perhaps the question we have to ask ourselves is, are our children learning? What is the quality of education actually being received in the classroom today? Although many children are attending school, they are benefiting less from schooling. According to the Uwezo Kenya survey, nationally, 7 out of 10 children in class 3 cannot do class 2 work. In many districts, more than 4 out of 10 children miss school daily and on a single day 13 out of 100 teachers are not in school. Whose responsibility is it to get teachers to attend school, and maximize time for instructional interaction with children? How will we navigate the many circumstances of poverty and child labour, to ensure that our children attend school daily?

We must place education at the heart of our social, political and development agendas. This is not a matter of choosing education over other issues of great importance. I recognize that laptops and technology will be important in this age, and that every school must now embrace technology. However, there are deep-rooted issues that must be addressed to ensure that our education delivers on the promises that it will equip our children for the challenges and opportunities in this 21^st century.

The findings of Uwezoindicate that mothers hold the key to literacy and numeracy. The assessment has established that girls aged between 6 and 14 years old whose mothers have not attended school, are seven times more likely to be out of school than their peers whose mothers have completed primary school. Yet, evidence on adult literacy ratesindicates that nearly half of all women in Kenya are illiterate, with most of these women living in rural areas and urban slums. In the North Eastern part of Kenya for instance, most mothers have never been to school. This fact alone isa significant reflection on the challenges we are facing to educate girls in this part of our country. So, what is their claim in the promises made by our President?

Parliament and Senate have commenced business, County Governors are in office, and we expect the President to name his Cabinet Secretaries any time now. But my question to our leaders is: What strategies arethey going to implement at national and devolved levels, to ensure that all children attending school today benefit from schooling? With the President’s promise of ‘no community left behind’, how will children, and especially girls in arid areas, enroll and access their right to quality education?

It would be my wish, that the incoming Cabinet Secretary will brave this reality, and help the President to deliver the promise of our constitution. And Ms/Mr. Cabinet Secretary, allow me to push three things to your in-tray as you enter office: (i) Promote accountability in your office, and down up to the head teachers and teachers at school level; (ii) Open up schools, so that parents and communities can participate to improve learning at school and at home; (iii) Insist on assessment at all levels, to monitor learning, more than just KCPE and KCSE.

 

Izel Kipruto is the Assistant Communication Officer in Uwezo Kenya at Twaweza. This opinion is personal. For feedback respond to ikipruto@uwezo.net

John Mugo – Uwezo Kenya (at Twaweza)
Address to Teachers in Metropolitan Region (Nairobi, Kajiado,Makueni)
11^th April 2013, Loitoktok

THREE STORIES

These are true stories, with combined qualities observed in schools around Kajiado, Makueni and Nairobi counties
Assignment: If you were the AEO, what is the one recommendation you would make about this school?

Listening to the President’s inaugural speech offered me a fresh ray of hope – not really the laptops, but because of the focus on learning. While I appreciate technology as a driver of development in modern-day Kenya, and its potential to change the paradigm of learning, there are several questions that come to mind.

The promise is that every child joining class 1 in 2014, will receive a laptop. From our Uwezo evidence, however, only around 5 percent of schools across Kenya have a computer of any kind, and most teachers in our schools fall way below the bar of computer literacy. The first question therefore is, will the laptop be a toy, or a learning tool, or both, and will it be for school or home use? How are we conceptualizing its use, whether for home or school, and who will guide these 1^st graders on how to use the laptops, when both the teacher and the parent, are this technology-helpless? Or, do we buy Sugata Mitra’s model that pupils guide themselves collaboratively in organized learning groups?

Last week, I visited one school in Central Province, which, even though the village has electricity, is yet to be connected to the grid, and I wondered to myself, if this school lacks power, how many other rural primary schools have any form of power connection? Assuming that most of the laptops will be solar powered, how will breakdown of both the soft and hardware be handled, or, will this perhaps, connect to the ‘youth-fund’ that is being established? But let’s leave the laptops first; I wanted to highlight what I liked about the speech.

For the first time, I heard a president raise concern about the relevance of our education – what are our children learning? Recalling Gregory Naulikha, our current curricula are overloaded, with outdated teaching methods that foster rote and mechanistic learning that is pegged on transmission of large quantities of facts. The focus is on the lowest level of knowledge, memorizing facts, rather than creating knowledge and espousing innovation. At every level of our education system, up to university level, our exams test knowledge of facts, rather than the ability to argue with existing knowledge, and the creation of new knowledge that Kenya can export to the rest of the world. It is unfortunate that even in science, problem-solving and discovery is not accorded more than 10 percent of learning time. At higher levels, engineering students are burdened with internalizing discoveries made by others, with little incentive to discover their own. To me, what our children are learning today, is the biggest threat to Vision 2030. Not funding, not political will!

President Uhuru’s statement on reviewing (seriously) our curricula (I wish this had been given 100 days, even when I know how much work we will have to do to come up with that relevant curriculum) ought to be welcomed and taken very seriously. What our children are learning will transform to expose them to the challenges and opportunities or 21^st Century living, and inspire them to be global leaders in a world that is rapidly changing. I feel now, it is upon us, the education fraternity, to give direction and exploit this political will. Three things will be critical to start us off.

First, the group advising the president on implementing this project must include persons with the critical skills of information technology on the one hand, and educationists with good grounding on digital learning in contexts of developing countries, on the other. Second, this group of experts must inform themselves accordingly, on models that have been proposed for digital learning in similar contexts, to avoid making mistakes others have already made. Third, the group of experts needs to embrace participation, to adequately validate their model among experts and citizens, and especially on the aspect of how the laptops will translate to an increase in learning outcomes at lower primary level.

 

John Mugo is the Country Coordinator of Uwezo Kenya at Twaweza.
This opinion is personal. Respond tojmugo@uwezo.net

Uwezo at Twaweza are seeking imaginative, inspired and motivated colleagues for a number of exciting roles based in Nairobi, for both Twaweza and the Regional Hub for Uwezo. The Nairobi office is focused on the implementation and management of innovative media partnerships. We have a range of vacancies.

Communications Officer
The Communications Officer seeks to reach millions of Kenyan citizens in innovative and inspiring ways, with a particular focus on the education sector. Creating materials, working with partners and developing annual plans are some of the key elements of the role.

JD – Communications Officer -Kenya

Learning Officer
The Learning Officer is responsible for developing and fostering a culture of learning and innovation within Twaweza, including Twaweza’s partners.  Monitoring of programs and documenting lessons learned for internal and external use are also a key part of this role.

JD – Learning Officer – Kenya

Program Officer, Media
The Program Officer will be responsible for implementing the country program, exploring, creating and managing innovative media partnerships that reach millions of citizens with inspiring information.

JD – Program Officer – Kenya

Senior Program Officer, Research
The Senior Research Officer will be responsible for planning and implementing Uwezo’s annual national learning assessment. Tasks include recruiting and managing partners, ensuring trainings of trainers and volunteers take place, supporting data entry and analysis and report writing.

JD – UwezoSPOR – Kenya

Dear GPE friends and supporters,

Today, our partners – the Global Partnership for Education, are launching their new Reading Changed My Life e-Album. We invite you to have a look and get inspired by these compelling photos from around the world that illustrate the power of reading and how it can transform lives.

The Reading Changed My Life e-Album features a selection of the best photos submitted to our 2012 contest. Each of these stories shows how the ability to read has changed an individual’s life for the better. Please share the Reading Changed My Life e-Album with your friends, family, colleagues, classmates, and anyone else who enjoys the power of reading.

Simply click on the social media icons next to each photo to post it on Facebook or Twitter. You may also download a few photos as wallpaper for your mobile device or screensaver for your computer. Just click on the links “Wallpaper” and “Screensaver” to download them.

On International Literacy Day 2012, the Global Partnership for Education along with 100+ co-sponsors launched the Reading Changed My Life Photo and Video Contest.  The contest was a great success, receiving nearly 1,000 photos and videos from 93 countries.

We hope you enjoy reading these inspiring stories, and help us continue drawing attention to the importance of reading!