Press Release: Kenyan Educators Graduate from PD Programmes

Ninety-eight educators, including teachers and leaders from schools across Kenya, today graduate from professional development programmes in educational management and training in English delivered by the Aga Khan Academy, Mombasa.

The programmes, which are delivered by the Academy’s dedicated Professional Development Centre (PDC), are conducted in collaboration with Kenya’s Ministry of Education, the Teachers Service Commission, the Aga Khan Foundation East Africa and the Department for International Development (DFID). The PDC provides high quality programmes for national educators, focusing on subject content acquisition, general pedagogical skills, interactive learning techniques and student-centred teaching methodologies. These programmes are available both to the Academy’s faculty and to teachers from Government schools. They are aimed at deepening the pool of well-trained teachers across the region, raising the status of teachers and encouraging talented people to enter the profession.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony, Chief Guest, Mr. Mohammed Mwinyipembe, Acting Director, Quality Assurance and Standards Officer, Ministry of Education (Kenya) commended the Academy for its efforts to develop the teaching profession in Kenya.

The Head of the Academy, Rob Burrough, congratulated the graduates on their success, saying that the partnerships with the local schools and organisations were an important aspect of the Academy’s joint mission of service and leadership. The 98 graduating educators were a testimony to the power of different organisations working in collaboration with a common focus, he added.

Of the 98 educators, 37 primary and nursery school teachers successfully completed the Programme for Teachers of English. The Programme focuses on building better understanding and more effective teaching methods in language learning. It also works to improve the teachers’ fluency in English. The need to improve English teaching and learning in schools was identified as a priority during extensive market research and interaction with the Government and the Ministry of Education. The programme is also currently being piloted in two other Aga Khan Academies, in Maputo, Mozambique and Hyderabad, India.

An additional 56 school leaders completed the Educational Management Programmes and received the Certificate in Education – Educational Leadership and Management. Three teacher-training college tutors and two teacher advisory centre tutors graduated from a “Training of Trainers” Programme, which  qualifies them to deliver the Programme to teachers of English in their own institutions.

Ms. Emily Mwatela of Utange Primary and Ms. Jamila Masoud of Bamburi Primary, two of the course participants from the cohorts in the Programme for Teachers of English, have highlighted how the training has changed their attitudes and approaches to teaching English.

Among other improvements, they said they learned to interact and collaborate more with their students. Their students are now communicating more in English in and out of the classroom and are more motivated in the subject. 

The 2012 Educational Leadership and Management course was targeted at Head Teachers and school leaders from Mswambeni and Kwale counties. Mr. Said Mwabeha, Head Teacher at Vuga Primary School in Kwale, said that the course participants had gained new knowledge and skills on modern leadership and management styles, as well as an awakened commitment and dedication to their professional roles. Mr. Maurice Astiba, Head Teacher at St. Lwanga Primary in Changamwe credits the course as invaluable, and says it has tremendously assisted the Head Teachers and school leaders to refine and sustain their management and leadership approaches, thereby improving their respective schools in terms of structure, culture and performance.

The Aga Khan Academy, Mombasa is the first of an integrated network of residential schools dedicated to expanding access to education of an international standard of excellence to exceptional girls and boys regardless of their ability to pay. To be located in Africa, South and Central Asia and the Middle East, the Aga Khan Academy’s foundational values include pluralism, meritocracy and civil society. Housed in a spacious and attractive campus, with outstanding facilities, the Academy offers the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum from Primary Years to the Diploma and provides an opportunity for teachers, educators and administrators to grow both professionally and personally.