- Nyong’o on Thursday toured the Kiwimbi Community Centre and Library in Amagoro town.
- She expressed interest in replicating some of the programmes offered by the community facility in Kisumu County.
The County government of Kisumu has announced partnership plans with Kiwimbi Community Centre and Library in Busia as the two move to engage communities to embrace vocational training.
This is after a visit by Kisumu First Lady Dorothy Nyong’o to Kiwimbi Community Centre and Library in Teso North subcounty on Thursday.
According to Kisumu County chief officer in charge of Social Services Haggai Kadiri, the county government is reviewing areas of collaboration between Kisumu and Kiwimbi besides exploring avenues of providing free vocational training at a time advancing in education after completion Class Eight and Form Four completion is still a challenge to many students.
Nyong’o on Thursday toured the Kiwimbi Community Centre and Library in Amagoro town and expressed interest in replicating some of the programmes offered by the community facility in Kisumu County.
She said she learnt of the existence of the community study centre at a golf tournament in the US courtesy of Kiwimbi General Manager Catherine Malala before she picked interest in learning more on the programmes offered by the facility.
Kadiri said a partnership on vocational training would be one sure way of engaging students particularly learners from economically struggling families.
“We have learnt a lot form this Kiwimbi programme and we have seen that it is actually changing the lives of many people especially young people,” he said in an interview.
“Areas of collaboration and partnership between Kisumu County and Kiwimbi are many. One of them is that we would want to replicate this programme in some parts of Kisumu County especially slums and other environs of the city.”
The centre primarily supports selected local schools which have a shortage of teachers with pupil instructors.
The programme that is conducted in primary schools aims at supporting overburdened teachers in the involved schools so that pupils can easily learn, pass their exams and proceed to secondary school and subsequently university.
This, Kiwimbi does by providing critical academic support in the foundational subjects of English and Mathematics.
Nyong’o and officials from the county government of Kisumu, besides touring Kiwimbi Community Centre and Library also visited Amagoro, Kidek, Ikapolok and Malaba Township primary schools which are direct beneficiaries of the services of the centre.
The four schools receive teaching staff support from Kiwimbi.
All the teaching staff were recruited locally.
The teaching programme aims at scaling down the work burden of Teachers Service Commission-employed instructors in the schools. The involved institutions have a shortage of teachers.