Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen will on Friday host the inaugural Elgeyo-Marakwet Elimu Conference in a bid to boost educational standards while strengthening peace efforts in the region.
The one-day forum will take place at Lorna Kiplagat Academy in Iten and will be graced by Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba.
The conference is expected to bring together about 2,500 education stakeholders, including school principals, student representatives, academics, education administrators, teacher union leaders and professionals from across the county.
The forum will seek to address the challenge of poor academic performance in the county while sensitising education stakeholders on the implementation of the Competency Based Education curriculum, among other objectives.
Speaking ahead of the event, Murkomen said some parts of the county have experienced declining education standards largely due to insecurity in the past.
“The lower parts of Elgeyo-Marakwet County is recovering from decades of banditry and therefore the quality of education has gone down over the years,” said Murkomen, who is also the Foundation’s patron.
He added that other parts of the county suffer from high teacher-student ratio, poor infrastructure, especially lack of laboratories, and low transition to senior schools and TVETs.
“Bringing this county on par with the rest of the country is therefore urgent. No one stakeholder has the silver bullet to solve this problem. And that is why we as a foundation are bringing together all stakeholders to explore the best ways to raise the standards of education in the shortest time possible,” the CS said.
The conference, organised under the auspices of the OKM Foundation, is the first of its kind in the county.
Founded in 2023, the foundation supports about 200 students annually through scholarships and mentorship programmes, while also nurturing talent through sports tournaments across the North Rift region.
Officials from the Ministry of Education and the Teachers Service Commission are expected to make presentations during the conference.
The National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) will also conduct sensitisation sessions on alcohol and substance abuse among learners.
The conference will be held under the theme ‘Collaborative Education for Sustainable Student Success,’ which emphasises partnerships among teachers, parents, government and institutions to improve learning outcomes.
According to the CS, the approach recognises that schools cannot operate in isolation and that effective collaboration is necessary to ensure students acquire skills and knowledge that prepare them for higher education, the workplace and society.
“The emphasis on collaboration shows that education is a shared responsibility, that schools cannot operate in isolation. Teachers need support from parents, policy direction from Government, resources from institutions and insights from industry to ensure what students learn is relevant to real-world needs,” said the CS.
He said the government is keen on sustaining the improved peace and security in Elgeyo-Marakwet and the wider Kerio Valley by ensuring stability translates into long-term opportunities for communities and a better future for young people.
