Prof Ong’ondo appointed new KICD boss

**Prof Charles Ong’ondo, who has ben appointed KICD director.**

Prof Charles Ong’ondo has ben appointed director Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development for a term of five years.

He now takes over from Dr Joel Mabonga who has been acting Chief Executive Officer after Dr Jwan Julius, who was the substantive boss was appointed Vocational and Technical Training PS.

Prof Ongondo beat other contestants to emerge tops during the interviews.

He is presently an Associate Professor in English Language Teacher Education in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Educational Media (CIEM) at Moi University.

He now takes over the tough assignment of implementing the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC), which has been delayed by the Coronavirus pandemic. Grade Five roll out was scheduled for this year after the government successfully implemented the CBC in grade I, II, III and IV.

Education CS George Magoha has been keen to enforce the full roll out of the CBC in all schools.

“This is my first instruction to ensure the CBC is fully implemented and successfully rolled out across all schools,” Magoha said when he assumed Jogoo Office as the Education boss.

Plans are complete to roll out the 2-6-6-3 curriculum to Grade 5 as nine publishers won tender to supply textbooks.

Kenya Literature Bureau, Longhorn, Moran Publishers, Jomo Kenyatta Foundation Mountain Top, East African Educational Publishers, Spotlight and Mentor Publishers will publish 12 textbooks which will be supplied to schools.

Since June 30, 2019, Prof Ong’ondo has been serving as a member of the Kenya National Task force on Access, Relevance, Transition, Equity and Quality for Effective Curriculum Reforms Implementation.

He has published six books, five book chapters and 26 journal articles in English Language Teacher Education, Communication Studies and Research Methodology.

Ong’ondo is also the Executive Director of African Network for Internationalization of Education (ANIE).

ANIE is a Pan-African organisation committed to the advancement of high quality research, advocacy, capacity building, information sharing, and transnational networking on the internationalization of education with prime focus on Africa.

ANIE aims to enable African Educational Institutions and development stakeholders to take optimal advantage of the opportunities presented by internationalisation. ANIE has its Secretariat based at the Margaret Thatcher Library, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya.

Ong’ondo is also a member of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL), Language Association of Eastern Africa, and founder member and official – Kenya Association of English Language Educators and Researchers (ASELER).

He is also a member of Kenya Association of Educational Administration and Management (KAEAM).

While at Moi University, Ong’ondo served as the Head of Department of Communication Studies, Moi University for Six years.

He also served as acting Dean of School of Information Sciences and School of Human Resource Development on a number of occasions. He has also participated in development of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and courses for his Department, other Departments in his school and even other schools of Moi University.

Ong’ondo is a member of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL), Language Association of Eastern Africa, and founder member and official – Kenya Association of English Language Educators and Researchers (ASELER).

He is also a member of Kenya Association of Educational Administration and Management (KAEAM). He has organised, attended and officiated in and presented papers in a number of international conferences, seminars and workshops.

Prof Ong’ondo has actively participated in extension services: First as founder (and current) Chairman of the Board of Management at God Kado Mixed Secondary School; Member of the Board of Management at Bishop Okullu Magare Girls Secondary School.

He has also facilitated and adjudicated a number of national and regional workshops and festivals for the Kenya National Schools and Colleges Drama Festival (KNDF) and the Kenya Music Festival (KMF).

Prior to joining the university as a lecturer, Ong'ondo had more than ten years’ experience as a teacher of English Language and Literature in English at secondary school level.