The Kenya Kwanza government is keen on investing in education, as this translates to investing in the future of the country. This will ensure that the country is prepared to face the challenges of a rapidly changing global landscape.
On the 14th day of the government roadshow, Hon. Machogu, the Education CS evaluated the Ministry’s Performance and Delivery of programs and projects in alignment with the Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) in the last year of the Kenya Kwanza Administration.
In the past 16 months, the government and the Ministry of Education has recruited about 30,000 teachers, bringing the total to 41,000 teachers in 2023, an increase from 11,000 in 2022.
The government also recruited an additional 1,300 TVET trainers. This saw a rise of the TVET trainers from 5,833 to 7,133 trainers in total at end of the year 2023.
Ministry of Education has sought to increase the number of TVET trainers in the year 2024 by 14% to about 8,133 trainers. This will only see a rise in the jobs created for numerous Kenyans but also improve the quality of education in the country’s TVETs.
1.8 Million Primary school learners were put under the School Meals Program. The government has committed to increase the number to 4 Million students by December 2024.
President Ruto in the year 2023 also launched the first ever government funded online university. The Open University of Kenya was chartered on the 3rd of August 2023. 1,500 students were enrolled at the start of the academic year in September of the same year.
In 2014, the Ministry of Education is committed to increasing the number of OUK from 1,500 to 5,000 students.
The government also foresaw the successful adaption of the New Funding for Tertiary Education. In January 2023, 104,073 university students were awarded loans totaling to 11.9 Billion Shillings.
97,452 students were awarded scholarships amounting to 5.3 Billion Shillings. A total of 99,835 TVETs trainees were awarded funding amounting to 3.7 Billion shillings.
The Ministry has committed to oversee a 100% transition from primary to junior school as well as oversee the construction of 16,000 new classrooms for grade 9 by December of 2024.