On 18th February 2017, teachers from all our project schools gathered at Hotel Waterbuck in Nakuru for the first WTA Teachers conference. The one day conference’s aim was to bring together the teachers in our projects schools into a common forum that sought to deliver on the second phase of WTA mission – making our schools awesome.
We had speakers to motivate and energize the teachers in their roles to educate children in these challenging communities. The speakers who are experts in the education sectors also shared a few proven ways and mindset to tackle common problems faced in such schools.
The conference began with an introduction from the director of our partner non-profit in Kenya, Irene Wairimu. She explained the aim of the conference and set the tone of the messages that would follow later in the day. She also briefly introduced the two speakers who would speak.
The first speaker, Ms Jane Mwangi, is a retired teacher and educationist who has worked with other educational programs most notably, she worked with UNICEF to improve schools in the nomadic Masai community in Kajiado county of Kenya. She had a motivational speech reminding teachers of their important role and the impact their daily toil has on the community eventually.
The Second speaker Mr. Okumu is the deputy county director of the Teacher Service Commission in Nakuru county. He is also a former high school teacher turned administrator. He spoke on a range of issues touching on the teaching profession. He focused on creating a professional working environment in our schools and clarified all issues and questions the teachers had since he is the authority on government policies and objectives.
In the afternoon sessions, we had various discussions on how to improve the schools and school performance. The teachers also divided themselves into different groups according to area of specialization in order to help each other out. We encouraged them to find solutions amongst themselves.
We hope this platform we’ve created flourishes, and the teachers increase their input in achieving WTA mission of improving access to education.
