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KEY NOTE SPEECH BY THE PRINCIPAL, COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND EXTERNAL STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI; PROF ISAAC JUMBA DURING THE CLOSING CEREMONY OF THE 4TH KEMI NATIONAL CONFERENCE
VENUE: KEMI MULTIPURPOSE HALL
DATE: JUNE 18TH, 2014 AT 4.30 PM.
The chairperson of KEMI council,
The Director KEMI,
Senior Officers from the Ministry of Education Science and Technology
Conference Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
I am delighted to have been invited to officiate at the closing ceremony of the 4thKEMI conference onRe-energizing Education Performance. I want to congratulate the Director, the entire KEMI council, and KEMI staff for meticulously planning for this conference to realize its stated goals and objectives.This is another example of your creativity and innovativeness in hosting a forum for demonstration of best practices in education management. I sincerely hope that the resolutions made at this conference will go a long way in enhancing the quality of education in our various institutions.
For example, we are talking about a teacher who can go out of his way to motivate his students to high levels of accomplishments; a school manager who spends time networking and mobilizing resources for performance improvements; and aresearcher who continually asks the critical questions that lead to revolutions in educational thinking. All these constitute forums for knowledge exchange and sharing of ideas.
As you are aware, schools are faced with a myriad of challenges. Meeting these challenges leads to upgrading of performances as this involves mobilization of financial, physical and human resources. The provision of schooling is largely done and financed by national governments. However, due to unmet demands for education, coupled with shrinking government budgets, the public sector in several parts of the world is developing innovative partnerships with the private sector. Before I officially declare the Conference closed, I wish to make a few remarks in relation to the education management in Kenya.
Private education in Kenya is provided by a range of schools: We have profit making schools – those which operate as enterprises; religious schools, non-profit schools, publicly funded schools operated by private boards, community owned schools. Education managers must therefore be innovative enough to bring together all these providers so that education becomes a community initiative. This joint approach will improve sustainability, ensure efficiency and promote cost effectiveness.
During the past two days, you have deliberated and discussed very pertinent issues that relate to improving performance in educational institutions. A good look at the programme reveals that the presenters have delved into and discussed crucial issues that relate to improving performance in educational institutions. Notable among these were pedagogical skills and technology transformation in line with Kenya Vision 2030.
Of importance also is the fact that any teaching approach that does not expose the learners to problem solving and application of knowledge needs a thorough reorganization. In this regard the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) and all other stakeholders concerned with curriculum design need to take note of the emerging realities in human resource demands of this country. The teaching outcomes must reflect these realities.
Ladies and gentlemen;
As you may be aware effective learning outcomes are products ofquality inputs including institutional facilities resources (like books and funds), teachers and their qualifications, and of course, the school learning environment. Some of these inputs may be out of reach of the ordinary school administrator. However, school managers definitely play a crucial role in setting positive learning environment and mobilizing human, physical and financial resources for improved learning outcomes. It is also their duty to help inculcate a culture of hard work, and integrity and develop internal mechanisms for dealing with institution-based conflicts.
During the deliberations, you also considered various assessment and evaluation approaches in your institutions. Several studies have revealed that most institution-based tests are either copied or “borrowed” from high performing institutions.In my view however, school teachers must develop their own assessment skills with the aim of achieving quality curriculum delivery in the classroom. This will in turn improve learning outcomes. I am glad to note that KEMI and KNEC are collaborating on a joint venture to train examiners with the objective of not only improving the quality of marking National Examinations but also enhancing their own internal practices and skills.
Other areas dealt with in your presentations included issues concerning adult and continuing education. And I am happy to note that in my College we do have the School of Continuing and Distance Education which addresses such issues. The issues also touched on education offered in disadvantaged neighbourhoods; education and management (which is part of the KEMI mandate), technologies in learning, methodologies for science and mathematics and early childhood learning among others.
These issues form an integral part of our education system and if we need to improve on the quality of education delivered in our schools, then we must improve on theseaspects as they add value to the holistic nature of the system. As you are aware technology is an essential ingredient of our Kenya Vision 2030 blueprint.
Honourable delegates,
You are aware that not all schools operate at the same level in terms of resources and facilities. Some of the schools we are talking about lack the very basic infrastructure indicative of a good learning environment and are not comparable to the high achievers with huge investments on resources. However it is incumbent upon all school managers to set their own individual targets that are SMART i.e (Specific, Measurable,Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound). Working without targets in any organization makes people complacent as there is no distinction between performers and non-performers.
Dear colleagues,
It will be very difficult to conclude the talk about “re-energizing performance” without mentioning motivation. A lot of institutions spend huge amounts of resources takingtheirteachers onvery expensive tours as a way of congratulating them for a job well done. This is because the human psyche has become more complex and needs more satisfying approaches to maintain good performance. But the question that comes to mind is, Is this approach sustainable especially for institutions that are less endowed with financial resources?
School managers should remember that motivation is more sustainable when it comes from within as it is a function of individual will. The role of the education manager in this case is to sustain performance levels by managing the human resource in the organization to operate at its maximum, willingly. You must additionally be innovative in your approaches by varying the motivational stimuli to suit the complex human needs.
As I conclude, I would once again very sincerely thank KEMI for providing this forum for exchange of ideas, and of course to the participants for your enormous contributions. We hope that very serious lessons have been learnt from this conference. These will go a long way in improving the quality of education in our institutions and these too can lead to production quality of manpower for national development.
With those remarks, Ladies and Gentlemen, I now declare the 4th KEMI Conference officially closed.
Thank you.
June 18, 2014