Advocating for Quality Education

Paula Mutheu

SDG 4 (quality education) aims at ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. When we advocate for the attainment of quality education, we first examine what has been accomplished in the field of education so that we can utilize it as a catapult for accomplishing what has not yet been accomplished.

The establishment of the Global Partnership for Education provides additional resources to the world's poorest countries to ensure access to free and high-quality primary and secondary education. For example in Kenya the government is playing a big role, taking initiatives in order to increase access to high-quality education.

The government has adopted a number of programs, such as Free Primary Education which was implemented in 2003 and its main objective was to make primary education accessible to every child irrespective of their background in terms of economy, the provision of school meals, and the development of educational facilities.

Providing support for innovative learning and assessment methods, such as the use of digital learning tools. For example, the Digital Literacy Programme (DLP) The programme was designed to introduce public primary school children to the use of digital technology and communication in learning. Currently, the programme is almost 100% complete with over 20,000 out of 23,951 public primary schools having been issued with the devices.

The implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) in 2018 with a focus on problem-solving, critical thinking, and communication skills to ensure the development of the learners according to their capabilities.

The government has also invested much in supporting learners and teachers, particularly by enhancing professional development and training. There are now sufficient teachers in every educational institution since additional teachers are being recruited every other day.

Therefore, all people, everywhere, deserve the chance to unlock their full potential and contribute to a more successful and sustainable future if we all work together to improve access to high-quality education and learning opportunities.