Speaking while unveiling a report on Bridge International Academies, Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i said the institutions have until April next year to comply/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya Dec 5 – All international schools in the country must teach History of Kenya and Kiswahili language, this is according a new government directive announced on Monday.
Speaking while unveiling a report on Bridge International Academies, Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i said the institutions have until April next year to comply.
The CS further directed the Teachers Service Commission to vet teachers of the international schools in the country to ensure the quality of education offered is not compromised.
Matiang’i told a stakeholders’ meeting that no one will be allowed to teach in any school in Kenya unless they are registered with TSC.
“Teachers who come to international schools are supposed to come to the Ministry first, we do their reviews and the credentials they have. Then the TSC registers them according to the standards they have; if they are coming to offer the British National Curriculum, for example, TSC has systems of confirming that those people have the qualifications to teach the British National Curriculum or whatever international curriculum they have come to offer,” he said.
The Education CS said that integration and collaboration of Ministry and TSC officials at the school level is important to ensure effective supervision of curriculum implementation and delivery and administration of policies and guidelines set for basic education.
He noted that effective management and execution of the educational policies and programmes at school level suffer when individuals work without collaborating with each other.
Matiang’i said successful education can only be founded on policy, effective management and execution structure.
“Let us agree like this; if that school is in your jurisdiction, as the County Director and there are people teaching there and they are not registered by TSC, we already have an issue right there. And to be very honest with you, if we implemented the law and enforce the law we would not be having this discussion about who is teaching down the road in a corner but they have no qualifications because TSC has not registered them,” he stated.
Since his appointment to the education docket, Matiang’i has been instrumental in overseeing ongoing curriculum reforms timelines and implementation.
Kenya’s education system has often come under criticism for failing to address the needs of the markets, with millions of students finding themselves ill equipped to meet the demands of employers.
The current education system has also been blamed for promoting rote learning.
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