Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has asked the Ministry of Education and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to establish a technical team to lead implementation of the recommendations of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform.
Speaking during a meeting with the leadership of the Ministry of Education and TSC, at his Official Residence in Karen, Nairobi, the Deputy President said that parallel reforms by the two agencies is counterproductive.
The Deputy President said the technical team will lead in the establishment of a common strategy of considering the respective mandates and needs of the MoE and TSC and other stakeholders.
“We are one country, one people, one government and our children are one. We need to establish a committee to lead the process,” Mr Gachagua said.
While TSC is an independent Constitutional Commission and the Ministry of Education is under the Executive, the two must work together, the Deputy President said.
“President William Ruto appointed the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform, which submitted its report and he accepted the recommendations. We have to work together in implementation. The MoE and TSC are working separately. This won’t help. A parallel approach does not augur well with the intended purpose of the reforms,” Mr Gachagua said.
The Deputy President said the people of Kenya demanded for the reforms and they have been waiting for too long.
“This sector is important to our country. That is why we committed almost 30% of our budget to the Education sector. We can’t afford to get it wrong. There is success in people working together, and putting aside divergent opinions’,” he said.
Cabinet Secretary for Education Ezekiel Machogu said the Ministry is ready to work with TSC in realising reforms that respond to the development needs of the country.
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“We are one sector (Education). Delivering the reforms required coordination. A technical team will be important,” Mr Machogu said.
The Cabinet Secretary added that such collaboration will hasten processing of requisite procedures, Cabinet memos and other documents like sessional papers that require concurrence.
The Chairperson of TSC Jamleck Muturi supported the proposal of the Deputy President and the Cabinet Secretary.
“I concur that we have a technical team. It will be helpful in harmonising implementation,” he said.
After the deliberations, it was agreed that names of the technical team be submitted within a week and work to commence immediately.
Upon assumption to office, President William Ruto established the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform, which delivered a report with recommendations after extensive engagement with key stakeholders. The President committed to implementing the recommendations to transform the Education Sector to support development.
The Cabinet Secretary for Education Ezekiel Machogu, Principal Secretary for Basic Education Dr Belio Kipsang, TSC Chairperson Dr. Jamleck Muturi, TSC CEO Nancy Macharia, were among those present.
