Strengthening of the quality of teaching (TEP project)

Promoted by: Strathmore University
Duration: Several years
Cost: 2,000,000 US dollars
Harambee contribution: 115,000 €

In Kenya there are 7 and half million students. A difficult challenge, aboveall on the outskirts of the urban area where the government funds are not enough, the salary of the teachers is very low and the infrastructure are inadequate with serious consequences also from the point of view of hygiene and health.
For this reason, school represents an oasis compared to the degradation in which children quite often grow up and teachers are very often the only point of reference for the young generation. That is why the priority is to invest on teachers who lost more and more their motivation.

Objective:
To insure adequate training to teachers from the elementary school to the secondary, reinforcing the sense of responsibility and giving them the right motivation. The Project, which will last 3 years, will involve 50,000 teachers coming from Nairobi and from the other remote parts of the country and 2,500,000 children.

Teacher enhancement Programmes

Promoter: Strathmore University Institute of Humanities, Education and Development Studies (IHEDS)
Harambee contribution: 45,000€

In Kenya 6 million children attend primary schools while only 700,000 students attend Secondary schools. For various reasons the morale of teachers has dropped drastically over the last 20 years. The consequences of that are being seen in schools. Few school managements put money back into resources. Buildings crumble, little maintenance is done. There are two major consequences to this. The level of hygiene is extremely low and the consequent illness and low immune system follows. In 2002/2003 the Institute of Humanities, Education and Development Studies at Strathmore University ran a series of short 3-day courses for teachers. The goal was to give the Kenyan teacher back his or her sense of identity as a contributor to the moral fibre of the nation. 660 teachers attended from all over the Republic and in evaluative follow up courses participants showed clearly that the first courses changed their management and teaching styles and they continue to impact very positively on their students and school communities
Harambee contribution in 2006 : 45,0000 euro.

Beneficiaries: 4,500 teachers and school managers over the next three years. 

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Prisoners' Training Project

Local Entity:
Strathmore University

Synthetic data of the project :
Harambee contribution : € 39,105.00
Contribution from local entity : € 4,345.00
Project duration : 2003 – 2004

-140 students attended courses
-114 students enrolled for exams
-20 students passed their exams
-24 studenti failed in only 1 subject
Description of the project :

Testimonials
Life in prison is not pleasant in any part of the world, and in a poor country like Kenya, it can be appalling. Prisoners frequently suffer from apathy, depression and related disorders. This is due to the conditions of their life, which is not only hard in itself but offers no chance of improving their situation. Sometimes these circumstances lead them to commit still worse crimes. The project’s goal, therefore, was to offer courses to prisoners through Strathmore University’s Department of Distance Learning, so that “prisons in Kenya, at least for some of the inmates, might become a school of life-training.” The opportunity of high-quality learning was given to those prisoners who expressed an interest in education. Strathmore University entered on an agreement with the Ministry for Internal Affairs for the planning and development of one-year accountancy and law courses for 150 students. This project helps the reintegration of prisoners into society on release, giving them a qualification that enables them to get a job and support a family.



Income generating activities and health services for rural women in Kiambu

Local Entity :
Kianda Foundation
Synthetic data of the project :
Harambee contribution : € 38,086.95

Contribution from local organization (Kianda Foundation) : € 4,231.89
Project Duration : 2003-2004

Thanks to Harambee’s contribution 50 women have taken part in the training courses offered by the project, and more than 1,000 have benefited from Kianda Foundation’s awareness-raising programmes on hygiene and nutrition.


Description of the project :
The training courses have prepared girls aged between 14 and 20 for work in the country, in the sewing, nutrition and cookery sectors. Additionally, through an Outreach programme, this training was made available to tea-plantation workers aged between 25 and 50 who have never received any formal education. Practical classes, held in classrooms situated in five different localities, provided those attending with technical skills to enable them to set up and run small profitable concerns to increase the family income. In the last few years nearly 2,000 women have attended these courses. This grassroots initiative is supported by Kenyan experts and aims to give young women economic independence.



Employment creation activities for unemployed young people in Nairobi

Local Entity :
Companionship of Work Association (COWA)
Synthetic data of the project :
Harambee contribution : € 39,941,.7
Contribution from local entity : € 4,437.98
Project duration : 2003 – 2004

The departments of “Work Training” and “Human Resources” were set up with seven full-time staff. 33,317 people benefited from the Orientation service. Contacts and collaboration links were established with 170 firms and organizations. 145 young people found employment.
376 young people altogether attended 21 business training workshops.
46 young people started up their own small businesses.
40 young people improved the standards and scope of the small businesses they run.

Description of the project :

The project’s goal was to contribute to the reduction of poverty by improving the quality of life of as many young people as possible, as being the most vulnerable sector of society.

The programme focused on the promotion of employment and self-employment through information, training, orientation and technical support.
Training courses were set up at COWA at Roysambu, on the outskirts of Nairobi, where they were given the use of three offices, a reception area, a classroom, a common-room and a multi-purpose room. The services operated throughout the whole of one year, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays to Fridays. The centre worked in cooperation with organizations such as AVSI (Association of Volunteers in International Service), St. Kizito VTI (Vocational Training Institute), local communities, and social organizations that brought together young people and local experts for training and advice on running small businesses.