Amina Mohammed's move as Education CS that has excited Kenyans

New Education CS Ambassador Amina Mohamed has excited Kenyans in her first ever act after taking the new docket, after she called for the strengthening of the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan.

The former Foreign Affairs CS also called for the increase in the number of scholarships as well as diversification of areas of study with particular emphasis on the sciences and technology.

“Scholarships have contributed positively to development in Commonwealth nations through capacity building in many critical areas,” she said during the 20th Conference of Commonwealth education ministers in Fiji.

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She added: “We believe the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan can be more impactful if it can be scaled up including encouraging growth through South-South partnerships.”

Timely payments

She said Kenya supports the established Commonwealth Scholarship Endowment Fund and appealed to Commonwealth member countries to meet their obligations by making timely payments to support the Fund.

“Kenya supports the established Endowment Fund. Kenya was the first country in Africa to make its contribution to the Fund and we continue to be passionate and committed to it,” said Ms Mohamed.

The CS also requested that UK to consider reviewing language proficiency requirements for Kenyan students saying English is the medium of instruction in Kenyan schools.

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She also called for strong partnerships with the UK especially in support of digital learning, curriculum review and development as well as increasing school infrastructure in Kenya.

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Kenya has been a beneficiary of Commonwealth scholarships including an average of 52 consistent scholarships from India, 2 from New Zealand and 12 from Pakistan.

Presently, there are 29 Commonwealth scholarships tenable in the United Kingdom for 2017/2018 against an annual average of 10.

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The 20th CCEM in Nadi has convened under the overarching theme, 'Sustainability and resilience: Can education deliver?’ Kenya will host the next Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers which will take place in 2021.