Class One and Two pupils now fluent in English, Kiswahili: report
Taifa Leo sub editor Stephen Musamali interacts with pupils at Little Lambs School in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County during an education event on June 14, 2017. The programme is aimed at improving mastery of the Kiswahili and English languages in schools. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The evaluation released last week showed that 47 per cent of Standard Two pupils met the national benchmark for English fluency in 2016, up from 12 per cent in 2015.
- USAID Kenya and East Africa Mission Director Karen Freeman on Tuesday said education experts across the world are looking to Kenya as Tusome is showing overwhelmingly positive results in every primary school in the country.
Kenyan children’s ability to read in English and Kiswahili has significantly improved since 2015, a newly released evaluation of the Tusome national reading programme has shown.
The evaluation released last week showed that 47 per cent of Standard Two pupils met the national benchmark for English fluency in 2016, up from 12 per cent in 2015.
It also showed a significant increase in the proportion of Standard One children who could read words in Kiswahili — from only 30 per cent in 2015 to 55 per cent in 2016.
The Sh7.3 billion project was developed through rigorous research, piloting, and broad national consultation led by the education ministry.
It is supported by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID).
POSITIVE RESULTS
USAID Kenya and East Africa Mission Director Karen Freeman on Tuesday said education experts across the world are looking to Kenya as Tusome is showing overwhelmingly positive results in every primary school in the country.
“This level of scale, effectiveness and sustainability is rare in the developing world,” she said.
The Tusome (“let’s read”) has trained 98 per cent of Standard One and Two teachers and developed, designed and distributed more than 20 million books in an effort to improve the reading skills of approximately 5.4 million learners in public schools nationwide.
Through the programme, ministry of Education officials are tracking reading results in every school in the country.
LOWER PRIMARY
Real time evaluation, coupled with regular classroom observations, continuous training and coaching, and well-designed learning materials contributes to the programme’s success.
The Tusome programme was introduced by the ministry of education in 2015.
It aims at improving the reading skills and fluency in children in lower primary schools.
