Strategies to spur inclusive EdTech learning in frontier counties | #EdTechMondays
“All children in the same classrooms, in the same schools.” That’s how UNICEF defines inclusive education. Inclusive education also means real learning opportunities for groups who have traditionally been excluded—not only children with disabilities but speakers of minority languages too.
To achieve the above goal, all hands need to be on deck. Which is why EdTech East Africa held its summit in Garissa University, which is in North Eastern Province, a region that has suffered cyclic exclusion. The summit, in partnership with the Frontier Counties Development Council (FCDC), sought to spur EdTech conversations in this region.
EdTech Mondays is a monthly program on NTV that features different stakeholders in the education and EdTech sectors, discussing all matters affecting education in Kenya. The Mastercard Foundation and EdTech East Africa are responsible for running EdTech Mondays in Kenya. The June edition of EdTech Mondays recapped the highlights of the summit.
Abdullahi Maalim from FCDC moderated a panel during one of the sessions at the event. The panel included Stephen Ajanga, Regional Director, North Eastern Region, TSC; Dr. Anil Khamis, Lead Researcher, Aga Khan University; Stephen Ajanga, Regional Director, North Eastern Region, Teachers Service Commission (TSC); Dr. Abdinoor Alimahdi, Founder and CEO, M-Lugha; and Dr. Muhammad Dahir, an esteemed education specialist.
Garissa is classified as a hardship area by the TSC. This classification can cause a region to lag behind in terms of education and other development initiatives.
More teachers
“It has been in the news recently that teachers who left the region because of security-related threats were protesting at the TSC headquarters to be transferred elsewhere,” Dr. Abdinoor stated.
In the fight against ignorance, teachers are the first line of defense. And when teachers exit a region, academic standards are negatively impacted.
Stephen clarified that the issue was sorted out and the teachers returned to work. Additionally, the Employment Act is very clear; there are terms and conditions you must abide by when working for an employer.
“North Eastern is the only region in this country where the government allows people to have permanent pensionable and contract employment,” Stephen added. “Why contract? So that we can fill the gap. We are also addressing this issue through teacher training colleges (TTCs).”
There are two TTCs in Wajir and one in Mandera, which have over 3000 learners. In the next three years, this region will produce local teachers who understand local dynamics and who will not up and leave when certain issues arise.
“Teachers are the most important agents of change,” Dr. Anil pointed out. “Leadership is important, but teacher development is more important.”
Culturally responsive curriculum
“We did a study and found it was not secondary schooling that was so critical, but early childhood development,” Dr. Anil said. “So the Madrasa early childhood development program is at the forefront of the Islamic curriculum.”
The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) has now adopted this culturally responsive curriculum. But there is more. Aga Khan University and other partners also hope to bring contextually-specific education to the FCDC regions.
Culturally responsive teaching means using students’ customs, characteristics, experiences, and perspectives as tools for better classroom instruction. Researcher Geneva Gay coined the term in 2000, writing that “when academic knowledge and skills are situated within the lived experiences and frames of reference for students, they are more personally meaningful, have higher interest appeal, and are learned more easily and thoroughly.”
Stakeholders’ engagement
Stakeholders. This is a term that is usually used in developmental circles and conferences. Often, because of overuse, such a term can lose meaning.
The Ministry of Education’s Stakeholder Engagement Plan says, “The principle of inclusiveness will guide stakeholder engagement with respect to vulnerable and marginalized groups. It will identify and carry out targeted consultations with vulnerable and marginalized groups to understand their concerns and needs in terms of accessing information, challenges encountered, and ensuring that their voices are acted on and not disregarded.”
Dr. Abdinoor noted that there is a need to cast a wider net. “There needs to be a broader definition of stakeholders, to move away from the ordinary definition of parents, boards of managers, and boards of governors.”
“We want to bring serious stakeholders to the table. And there are many of them in the region, but we need to engage them properly. If we show them the value that we are also bringing as a region, then they will come on board.”
Encourage enrollment of learners
Fact: In 2021, it was reported that over 1 million learners were not in school in the 10 frontier counties.
How to mitigate the above fact: feeder schools. No organisation knows this game better than Save the Children, using feeder schools in frontier counties to attract and retain more learners. After realising that children were dropping out of school due to economic reasons, they came up with a children’s education program that goes up to Grade 2.
“We are doing this because we want to encourage learners to transit to formal primary schools,” Hussein Baraki, Save the Children’s Education Officer, said. “We mobilize and carry out enrollment drives to bring children back to school, prepare them, and transit them to the nearest mainstream primary school.”
“We ensure they are competent in terms of numeracy and literacy. One thing we are doing is providing free educational materials for all children who enroll in our programs.”
Fact: In some remote schools in the North Eastern province, the number of tablets exceeds the number of learners.
How to mitigate the above fact: community sensitization. This is also in the playbook of Save the Children. They do community sensitizations and hold monthly coordination meetings, coordinated by the respective education officers.
Leadership
“There is a leadership issue, and we need to confront it,” Dr. Abdinoor pointed out, “whether it is school leadership, political leadership, or leadership at the county level.”
“Leadership is an issue that we need to address. You cannot be leading an entire population; we are talking about the same things, and there is nothing radical, you know.”
In North Eastern, there are schools that have had the same board members for 30 years but have nothing to show for all the years they have served. The same applies to principals. There are some who have headed schools for donkey years, on the back of failing students and flailing institutions.
A study titled Effect of School Leadership on Student Academic Achievement found that the leadership behaviours of the school principal have an indirect effect on student achievement through the variables of teacher collaboration, classroom instruction, and parental involvement. Moreover, the findings indicated that principals have a very important role in increasing student achievement by improving variables in rational, organisational, and family pathways.
Conclusion
Inclusive education is not a mirage. It is a long-drawn process that requires concerted efforts from different fronts and stakeholders who will be there for the long haul. Though the Frontier Counties EdTech Summit was a piece of the equation towards building inclusive, resilient education, there is a lot more that needs to be done. If you would like to take this conversation forward, you can join the EdTech Baraza to interact with like-minded individuals and build resilient, inclusive educational systems.
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