State secures Sh5b grant for language project

The Government has secured a Sh5 billion grant to support early grade reading for 5.4 million Standard One and Two pupils across the country.

This is one of the biggest education projects the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID) are supporting, an indication of renewed donor confidence in the sector.

Five years ago, the US and UK governments halted education funds to the country after the free learning programme was rocked by a scandal.

The Tusome Literacy Programme is a four-year programme that aims at improving the teaching and learning of English and Kiswahili subjects in 23,000 public and alternative basic education institutions across the country.

Some 1,000 Alternative Provision to Basic Education and Training (APBET) institutions in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru and Kisumu are targeted in a bid to improve literacy learning outcomes.

Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang said all targeted children will be able to read and write by the time they join Standard Three.

Mr Kipsang said the Tusome project is founded on the educational principle that learning to read is the first and most important activity any child undertakes at school.

"Having this basic foundation unlocks all the other benefits of education," he said. Kipsang said the ministry has already launched the training programme for education officials who will steer early grade reading activities.

The Tusome programme national co-ordinator Maria Cherono yesterday said the training of Teachers advisory Centre (TAC) Tutors, head teachers and teachers kicked off in 31 centres across the 47 counties.

"The activity will target 1,060 TAC tutors, 70 DICECE (District Centre for Early Childhood Education) officers who are currently performing the duties of TAC tutors, 20,669 head teachers, and 28,725 Standard One teachers," said Ms Cherono.

She said the training aims at equipping the officers with necessary skills on the Tusome instructional approach towards effective classroom instruction, supervision and support.

Appropriate textbooks

Cherono said the project also aims at improving children's access to appropriate textbooks and supplementary materials for reading.

She said the Government in collaboration with USAID and DFID has already printed 2.1 million English and Kiswahili books for Standard One pupils of 2015. The printing of another set of 600,000 books was expected to be completed by the end of April "ready for distribution in schools during second term".

Cherono said the key objectives of the programme are to improve teacher capacity for effective delivery, boost instructional support supervision of teachers by TAC tutors, coaches and head teachers.