Education

• Education, Health, Social Protection among others.

Education and Training
This sector aims to improve competencies in literacy and numeracy among children aged 6-16 years old in Kisii County. The household-based learning assessment is conducted in the eleven subcounties, by the Vines Kenya volunteers. This assessment has been conducted in Kisii County since 2011, and reports titled ‘Are Our Children Learning’ produced and widely shared to inform public and policy debate.
For ease of understanding and implementation, we articulate our assessment in three main components:

• Large scale – in 2021, the assessment covered 11 sub-counties in Kisii County. 834 children aged 6-16 years were assessed and a total of 39 private and public primary schools were surveyed.
• Empirica rigour – Vines Kenya assessment meets high standards of empirical quality. Tests are developed by experts drawn from KICD, KNEC, Ministry of Education and even practicing teachers. Sample is drawn by experts at the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, while the survey materials are generated through consultation with academia and education experts.
• Citizen participation and action – Unique to the assessment is the space occupied by citizens at the County, subcounty and village levels. Vines Kenya works through Subcounty-based partner organisations, and trains volunteers living in the sampled enumartion areas to collect data. In 2021, the assessment witness participation of all key education institutions at County level, 11 subcounty -based organisations, and nearly 80 volunteers in over 46 randomly-sampled enumeration areas. The Vines Kenya evidence, unlike the conventional academic research, is meant to energize citizen action.

Investing in literacy and numeracy in the school will call for several bold measures:

• Demand accountability from headteachers, teachers, parents and learners.
• Shift focus from exams and meanscores, to the acquisition of foundational skills.
• Boldly re-assess what children are learning at every level, and re-shape to accommodate thinking and innovation.

Of all things, education must be equitable even as we await equitable infrastructural developments across the country, and income levels to close the poverty gaps, education itself must address the existing inequalities