With over 25 years’ experience working in Kenya, VVOB has returned to Kenya to launch a five-year project in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Kenya Education Management Institute to support an ambitious educational reform.
Kenya’s educational reform
Kenya’s nationwide educational reform began in 2017 and involves a change of curriculum, shifting from an exam/results-focused curriculum to a competence-based curriculum which places an emphasis on learners attaining skills in communication, collaboration, and critical thinking.
Early childhood education and primary education were the first education levels to undergo the major reform. Junior secondary education – an education level that did not exist in the previous system – is next and where VVOB’s expertise will be utilised.
VVOB left Kenya in 2014 after 25 years of presence and has now returned with an improved global 2030 strategy. Learning Unlimited. outlines the strengthening of professionalisation structures for school leaders and teachers as a core ambition and as VVOB’s General Director Sven Rooms attests, “evidence-based programming shows us that school leaders play a vital role in creating the conditions for effective teaching and providing pedagogical support to teachers.”
A joint commitment to education
Since the end of 2021, VVOB held consultations with the Ministry of Education, Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI), and other stakeholders and together, we identified the need to strengthen the existing opportunities for professional development of school leaders, especially to support the implementation of the competence-based curriculum reforms in junior secondary.
This is where VVOB’s project– Implementing national curriculum reforms through app-based learning for school leaders in secondary education (INCREASE) – fits in.
VVOB is partnering with and working through the Ministry of Education and KEMI to strengthen their technical capacities to develop and implement a blended learning capacity development trajectory – involving in-person and online training – for school leaders. To ensure school leaders don’t feel overburdened as they progress through their training, our app-based capacity development trajectory will have built-in feedback loops to learn from their experiences and adapt the app accordingly.
A long term vision
The project’s goal is to ensure school leaders in junior secondary education acquire strong instructional leadership skills and organise quality teacher professional development at school-level to support the effective implementation of the competence-based curriculum.
If school leaders are not on board, teachers are less likely to change their teaching and ensure that learners gain the core competencies they need to succeed in their further education and future career. As we launch our five-year project plan in Kenya, our vision is on the long-term as we develop and strengthen our working relations with the Ministry of Education at central and decentralised levels and with those institutions tasked with school leadership and teachers’ initial training and capacity development.
The INCREASE project partners with the African Centre for School Leadership for sharing of promising approaches, research and lessons learnt across the continent.
VVOB’s close collaboration with the Ministry of Education and KEMI is reflective of a shared vision - the common goal of providing Kenya’s youth with the competences necessary to succeed in life and to contribute to the further development of Kenya.
Speaking ahead of the launch, Claire Mazin VVOB Country Programmes Manager in Kenya, said that “while VVOB brings the technical, financial support and the international experience, KEMI provides the structure and the environment to ensure sustainability of the INCREASE project through its existing structure and long-term expertise and presence in the field of school leadership in Kenya”.
The INCREASE project presents a unique opportunity to pilot and institutionalise an innovative and scalable learning trajectory for education leaders, coming at a critical time in Kenya’s education sector.
