The Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms (PWPER) is set to reveal to how it wants to meet and collect views from the public in the coming days.
This was revealed after the PWPER Chairperson Raphael Munavu completed a three-day orientation into the currents and essentials of the education reform initiatives that are happening in the past week.
The induction happened at the Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology in Africa (CEMASTEA) in Nairobi City.
The 49-member team has been responsible for carrying out education reforms and making appropriate recommendations to the government within six months.
The team will also do an evaluation of the country’s education system and recommend an appropriate structure for implementing the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
Munavu urged the team members to be objective while listening to views from the public when holding the countrywide public hearings on issues regarding the education sector.
“Public engagement means listening to citizens,” said Prof. Munavu.
He said that education can transform the socioeconomic fortunes of a nation. He also called for the need to ensure that information and documents gathered or received enable the writing of a credible report.
“As we craft the report, look at the global, regional and national contexts,” said Prof Munavu.
The professor added that the recommendations they will make should be as bold and as objective as possible.
In the past month, President William Ruto constituted the PWPER and tasked it with reviewing education reforms and making appropriate recommendations to the government.
According to a gazette notice dated the 29th of September, the Party is expected to study all laws governing the basic education subsector and make recommendations for reviewing these legislations with a view to addressing duplication, ambiguities, efficiency constraints and improving linkages.
The PWPER will also carry out a review and recommend equitable access to education, especially for those facing social, economic and geographic marginalization, vulnerable populations, children and persons with special needs.
The working party is also expected to furnish the Head of State with a progress report every two months from the date and submit a final report at the end of the term.
On tertiary and university education, the President has tasked the team to review and recommend a governance and financing framework for TVET training and development, university education, research and training; framework for TVET training and development, university education, research and training.
The taskforce will also recommend a framework for operationalizing the National Open University of Kenya and a framework on Open, Distance and E-Line learning (ODEL), making recommendations for streamlining continuity in TVET and university education transition.
The team was given powers to invite and consider views from sector stakeholders and members of the public, hold meetings in the places and consider necessary for the proper discharge of its functions, and regulate its own procedure.