As schools in the UK opened this month for the start of another year, the first half of September brought teacher strikes and school closures across Kenya. This was over the chronic teacher shortages, an issue Elimu has seen in the schools we work with. Teaching unions had been pushing for permanent and pensionable contracts for the country's 18,000 contract teachers and the employment of 10,000 more. The Free Primary Education Act of 2003, which was followed in 2008 by the Free Secondary Education Act, resulted in a huge increase in school enrolment numbers but not enough teachers.
The strike ended when the government agreed to absorb the 18,000 contract teachers and to employ a further 5,000 from January. It also pledged to make provisions for teacher promotions which are currently not compensated for.
If the government follows through on its agreement, the strike will have been one of the most successful in Kenya's history.
Schools have now re-opened and our partner schools are gearing up for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations. Students sit the KCPE at 14-years-old to mark the end of primary education and to determine their eligibility for secondary school. The stakes for them are very high.
Elimu will be in Kenya in October with a small group of supporters (and would-be supporters, hopefully!) who include several staff from our long-time partner school, The Priory. The group will have a chance to find out more about our work and to spend time in Kipriria, Kipsamo and Stalion schools as well as two new schools who are keen to establish links with the UK. They are: Greenfields, Kipriria's sister school, and Nandi Hills Township, the largest public school in the area.
We will be bringing back updated reports on each of the schools, similar to the one posted here in August on Stalion, as well as a short documenary film which will include interviews with staff and students and offer more of an insight into life in Nandi Hills.
Back in the UK... An interesting and productive trustees' meeting led to some exciting fundraising ideas. These plans will be revealed shortly.
While the process of organising the 2012 sixth form trips began almost as soon as the last one ended, those who participated in July's trip have given short presentations about their experiences - and encouraged others in their schools to think about some of the ways in which their daily lives impact on people in Africa and how they can make a positive difference. After visiting a tea factory and a banana tree plantation and spending time with the people whose livelihoods depend on them, the issue of fair trade can take on a new meaning. This was the focus of a presentation to current sixth form students in Charles Darwin School by accompanying teacher Alison Roberts. Incidentally, the school's new headteacher was born in Kenya!
We look forward to having further discussions like this, to working with each of our schools and to faciliating their own growing partnerships.
Meanwhile... Elimu has now branched into the world of 'tweets' and, if we are lucky, 're-tweets', with a Twitter account. You can follow us here https://twitter.com/#!/ElimuforAfrica
Alternatively, we are also on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Elimu-Foundation/173069492728547
With thanks,
Jo
The strike ended when the government agreed to absorb the 18,000 contract teachers and to employ a further 5,000 from January. It also pledged to make provisions for teacher promotions which are currently not compensated for.
If the government follows through on its agreement, the strike will have been one of the most successful in Kenya's history.
Schools have now re-opened and our partner schools are gearing up for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations. Students sit the KCPE at 14-years-old to mark the end of primary education and to determine their eligibility for secondary school. The stakes for them are very high.
Elimu will be in Kenya in October with a small group of supporters (and would-be supporters, hopefully!) who include several staff from our long-time partner school, The Priory. The group will have a chance to find out more about our work and to spend time in Kipriria, Kipsamo and Stalion schools as well as two new schools who are keen to establish links with the UK. They are: Greenfields, Kipriria's sister school, and Nandi Hills Township, the largest public school in the area.
We will be bringing back updated reports on each of the schools, similar to the one posted here in August on Stalion, as well as a short documenary film which will include interviews with staff and students and offer more of an insight into life in Nandi Hills.
Back in the UK... An interesting and productive trustees' meeting led to some exciting fundraising ideas. These plans will be revealed shortly.
While the process of organising the 2012 sixth form trips began almost as soon as the last one ended, those who participated in July's trip have given short presentations about their experiences - and encouraged others in their schools to think about some of the ways in which their daily lives impact on people in Africa and how they can make a positive difference. After visiting a tea factory and a banana tree plantation and spending time with the people whose livelihoods depend on them, the issue of fair trade can take on a new meaning. This was the focus of a presentation to current sixth form students in Charles Darwin School by accompanying teacher Alison Roberts. Incidentally, the school's new headteacher was born in Kenya!
We look forward to having further discussions like this, to working with each of our schools and to faciliating their own growing partnerships.
Meanwhile... Elimu has now branched into the world of 'tweets' and, if we are lucky, 're-tweets', with a Twitter account. You can follow us here https://twitter.com/#!/ElimuforAfrica
Alternatively, we are also on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Elimu-Foundation/173069492728547
With thanks,
Jo
