Blogs & Articles

The 39th Association of Educational Assessments in Africa (AEAA) conference last week (21st to 25th August, 2023) in Nairobi endorsed the need to put the African Child at the center of learning and assessing learning outcomes. The Conference themed “Educational Assessment for Nurturing Every Learner’s Potential”, brought together more than…

"Masomo haija msaidia". This is a common "cliché" in Kenyan circles, used in reference to Kenyan graduates who are unemployed after years of blood, sweat, and tears of learning. Whenever this statement is used in reference to specific individuals, typically in our villages, it is a serious one that points…

‘‘We could not afford to lose the knowledge that was so impactful’ remarked Mr. Mwaka, the head teacher, Arap Moi primary school during the stakeholders meeting held in June 2022 in Tana River County. Arap Moi Primary school is one of the public schools located in Kipao location, Tana Delta…

At the beginning of 2021, we visited the Kenya Primary School Headteachers Association (KEPSHA) with a single request: we needed a teacher to join us in developing contextualized tools for measuring life skills and values. We immediately received feedback with a name of one Margaret Nzioka, a Headteacher at Karenge…

Dear CS Machogu. I woke up today and thought about you. The President has proposed you, to work with us, and we embrace you, warmly. Somehow, I had not heard about you before yesterday, but then again, I may belong to the herd of ignorant Kenyans who only focus their…

“We are happy to have had a very good experience, especially implementing an educational program for the first time. Zizi Afrique Foundation (ZAF) has contributed to the growth of our Community-Based Organizations (CBO),” recounted Maurice and Janet, our implementing partners from Tana River and Bungoma counties during our last review…

In 1982, the Association for Educational Assessment in Africa (AEAA) was founded with the vision of harmonizing Educational Assessment in the continent. In August 2022, AEAA hosted its 38th annual conference in Livingstone, Zambia, to discuss the progress made in education assessments and to find solutions to the challenges facing…

  Assessment for Life Skills and Values in East Africa (ALiVE) national assessment felt like a theatre with varying scenes and different characters all happening in very quick succession. Even without the bird’s eye view, working with one county was enough to give one a snapshot.  The scene opened with my…

The early school mornings had started to get boring, and my initial excitement about school was wearing off daily, the only thread holding it together being the two play breaks when two friends and I would skip rope. Classes were monotonous. Each day, using a big ruler, the teacher would…

Five years ago, representatives from diverse organizations in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania converged in Nairobi to launch a collaborative learning community, the Regional Education Learning Initiative. This community of education practitioners came together to advance their shared goal of improving learning outcomes for students around East Africa. One emerging area…

Between the 11th and 14th May 2022, we began the My Village journey, a Learning Village! Participants representing three PAL Network countries – Kenya, Nepal and Tanzania – gathered to ideate and agree on the My Village project design, with the main question being, ‘What would it take to have…

Mwibale primary school in Western Kenya is a testimony of what the power of reading can achieve even among the furthest behind communities. On this sunny afternoon, I take a ride to the school to meet the headteacher, who had been looking to meet us for some time. The sight…