Lack of tutors hurting adult education in Kwale
An elderly woman with who is a pupil at Kapserton Adult Basic Education Centre in Nandi County in the past. Shortage of teachers is hurting the programme in Kwale County. FILE PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
A shortage of teachers for adult education has crippled efforts to increase literacy levels in Kwale County.
County Director of Adult Education Argwings Owuor said his department requires at least 100 teachers to offer quality education to adult students.
"We only have 38 full-time tutors. Some of the teachers are close to retirement and two are expected to retire in July," he said.
Mr Owuor called for the hiring of more teachers.
“We have 4,226 adults undergoing education in our various learning centres across the county but we are in desperate need of teachers,” he said.
MORE WOMEN
The number of women seeking education in the county stands at 3,377, compared with 849 men.
He said his department has has hired 24 part-time teachers.
He said drought has also led to absenteeism by among learners.
“Some of them were even forced to move from one ward to another since they have to look after their families, thereby missing lessons,” he added.
Mr Owuor said most students do not have learning materials and requested the government to intervene.
SECONDARY SCHOOL
The academic progress of the students is also good and in last year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams, the top student scored 275 points.
He urged adult learners who have completed primary education to join secondary school.
The county has 84 adult education centres and is working with translation organisations such as Bible Translation and Literacy to ensure they translate the education curriculum to students' native languages for easier learning.
