Kenya has received Sh11.5 billion since 2005 from Global Partnership for Education

Kenya has been the largest beneficiary of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), having received Sh11.5 billion since 2005, British High Commissioner to Kenya Jane Marriott has said.

She said the two countries were going to work together to enhance education, support sustainability, and mitigate against the effects of Climate Change among other projects.

Speaking at Keriko Day Mixed Secondary School, the school that produced World’s best teacher, Bro. Peter Tabichi who won the Global Teacher Prize in 2019, Marriott said the two nations were planning to build closer ties.

Keriko which is in a remote area of Njoro also got the best science project in 2019 and the two students produced a device that could help the visually impaired learn mathematics to the United States of America to showcase their prowess in science.

The two girls, Esther Amimo and Esther Njeri won the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2019 despite the school being ill-equipped for research

When she toured the school on Monday, Marriott, who is on a tour of Nakuru County said it was amazing and a show of brilliancy that students and teachers from such a remote school could rise to the global limelight.

“The said the school had been picked to be the 70th school in the country to be included in the connecting classrooms program which is being run in commonwealth countries.

She said the program’s main objective was to help pupils and students understand the big issues that shape the world and equip them with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need to make a positive contribution.

She said more than 1000 schools in Kenya had been enrolled in the exchange program where teachers and students from paired schools interact and event visit each other.

Keriko was paired with Bishop Ullathorne Secondary School in West Midlands, United Kingdom.

“Through this program teachers and students from the two institutions will learn about each other and this will provide an opportunity to exchange their experiences, dreams, and aspirations,” said Marriott who was accompanied by diplomats from the British Council in Kenya.

 The British Council’s Connecting Classrooms program ran in partnership with the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is helping young people learn about global issues to improve learning outcomes.

“More than 20,000 schools have been reached globally since the program began in 2007, 2000 of them being schools across 35 of Kenya’s 47 counties,” she noted.

She said the Global Education Summit which is co-chaired by British Prime Minister, Borris Johnson and President Uhuru Kenyatta will be held on 28-29 July in London.

Marriott said the summit targets to raise Sh535 billion over the next five years to support GPE get 175 million more children into quality education in 87 lower and middle-income countries.

“UK has been the largest donor to the GPE contributing 13% of the GPE income since 2005 and Kenya has been the largest beneficiary, receiving Sh11.5 billion to date,” she added.

Kenya and the UK are pushing other countries to raise the targeted amounts and give more needy children an opportunity to learn.