Chief Guest, Hon. Beatrice Askul Moe, Cabinet Secretary for East African Community (EAC) and Arid and Semi-Arid Lands, speaking during the event. [ Noel Nabiswa-Standard]
East African Community (EAC) Partner States have renewed calls for stronger cooperation in education, with leaders pushing for harmonized curricula, qualifications and teacher development to close persistent learning gaps and prepare young people for an increasingly integrated regional economy.
The call was made on Thursday in Nairobi during the opening of the four-day 2nd EAC Regional Education Conference, which has brought together more than 600 education leaders, policymakers, researchers and stakeholders from the eight Partner States.
The conference is addressing persistent challenges including unequal access to quality education, teacher shortages, skills mismatches, inadequate resources and weak transitions between levels of education.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Cabinet Secretary for the EAC and Arid and Semi-Arid Lands Beatrice Askul Moe, who represented President William Ruto, called for greater investment in teachers, professional development and improved working conditions.
“As regional integration deepens, our systems must become more interoperable. A child moving between Partner States should not have their education interrupted because they crossed a border,” said Askul.
She said curriculum reforms would not succeed without corresponding investment in teachers.
“Curriculum transformation without teacher transformation cannot succeed. As a region, we should regard our teachers not simply as employees of national systems, but as a community of East African professionals,” she said.