
USAID-Kenya Partner to Enhance Teacher Professional Development (TPD)
Dr. Belio Kipsang, the Principal Secretary for the State Department for Basic Education, expressed his gratitude towards the Reading Remediation project that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is currently piloting in select counties across Kenya.
The USAID Tusome Early Grade Reading program is an after-school initiative created in collaboration with the Kenyan government to provide additional lessons to struggling readers in grades one to three.
Dr. Belio Kipsang explained that the program has been incredibly helpful in helping struggling readers catch up to their peers in terms of reading fluency.
The reading remediation program is being tested in 27 counties across Kenya, and it aims to benefit 7.8 million pupils in grades 1, 2, and 3.
The Reading Remediation project was established in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a significant impact on reading disparities among learners across Kenya.
Schools were closed from March 2020 to July 2021, leading to an exacerbation of reading difficulties for many learners.
Dr. Belio Kipsang also mentioned that the USAID-Kenya partnership in teacher professional development and school monitoring progress has been effective in improving the quality of education in institutions throughout the country.
The partnership has developed a dashboard in collaboration with the Ministry of Education that will help improve classroom observation by Quality Assurance and Standards Officers.
The real-time data capture and retrieval system that has been developed by USAID-Kenya will not only help the Ministry of Education track the quality of teaching and learning in schools but also increase its presence in schools across the country.
Amy Pekol, the USAID-Kenya Officer in charge of Education and Youth Affairs, said that the partnership with the Ministry of Education is critical in improving the quality of teaching and learning in schools in Kenya.
The program’s goal is to improve a teacher’s ability to teach, which will result in improved student outcomes while also providing researchers with current information on educational practices and instructional problems.
Overall, the Reading Remediation project and the USAID-Kenya partnership are essential in addressing the challenges that have emerged from the pandemic, and they will be crucial in ensuring that learners across Kenya have access to quality education.
USAID-Kenya Partner to Enhance Teacher Professional Development (TPD)