Program Development and Analysis

Programs

The Office of Program Development and Analysis (PDA), manages other programs which do not fall into the technical expertise of other divisions such as Program Development and Learning, Education Support for Children of Marginalized Population, Trade and Investment Development, and Education for Democracy Initiative (EDDI).  Below is a brief description of some of these activities.

Education Support for Children of Marginalized Populations

Background: In August 2003 USAID/Kenya received AID/W approval for a new Education Strategic Objective.  A confluence of events in Kenya and Washington led to the SO approval and funding.  First and foremost, when the new Kenyan government took office in January 2003, education reform was identified as a priority for Kenya’s social, political and economic development. Shortly after the elections, the government followed-up on their campaign platform and initiated a bold policy reform to provide free primary education (FPE).

With the introduction of FPE and a renewed government commitment, USAID/Kenya identified support for education reform as an important part of the mission development assistance portfolio. The May 2003 USAID/Kenya Triennial Review in Washington, DC highlighted the significant policy and governance measures taken by the new Government. USAID/Kenya used the Triennial Review as an opportunity to rebalance their development portfolio and bring it in line with GOK development objectives and priority sectors. This rebalancing included the development of a new Strategic Objective for Education.

At about the same time as the Triennial Review, USAID/Washington began developing operational details for President Bush’s Africa Education Initiative (AEI). AEI was announced by President Bush in June 2002 and is a five year program designed to improve educational opportunities for Africa’s children. The three components of AEI are: 1) girls scholarships; 2) textbooks and; 3) teacher training. 

In May 2003, another education initiative, to focus on education in Islamic communities was announced. Kenya was one of the five Africa countries selected to participate in the new Islamic Education Initiative. 

Coincidentally, in April 2003 the GOK Minister for Education, Science and Technology, George Saototi, visited Washington, DC and requested USAID assistance for the new education sector reforms. The Minister noted that one of the priority areas for assistance in the education sector is to expand educational opportunities to children of marginalized populations. Marginalized populations, the Minster explained, included school-age children in the North Eastern and Coast Provinces, urban slums in Nairobi and Mombassa, and orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDs. There was an obvious development opportunity for USAID’s Education Initiatives to support the Government of Kenya education reform program, with a particular focus on providing education opportunities to children in marginalized populations. 

This confluence of events resulted in the approval of a new USAID/Kenya Education Strategic Objective to be developed and funded from the Africa Education Initiative.

USAID/Kenya is in the process of establishing a new education SO.  The graphic representation of that results framework is presented below.

Activity Description

Consultations with MOEST officials at the Provincial, District and Zonal levels will be the starting point for all activities.  The intent is to establish a process that strengthens the linkages and partnerships between communities, schools, and districts.  Given the distinct differences between populations in the Coast and North Eastern Provinces activities will be unique to each environment.

Within the Coast Province, target sites will be selected from those communities that have already established and are managing Madrassa Early Childhood Development (ECD) Centres with the support of the Aga Khan Foundation as preparation for children’s transition into primary schools.  Clusters of ECD centres that feed a common Primary School will form a target site.  Numbers of clusters and numbers of sites will be determined in the consultative process with Provincial and District officials. 

Site selection will be followed by the development of a “whole school” strategy to create a Primary School learning environment in which parents support, children enjoy, and teachers facilitate a quality education for all who attend.  Included in this strategy will be such illustrative activities as:

• Strengthening of school management committees,
• Strengthening community capacity to interact with the Government,
• Strengthening of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology’s capacity to interact with, respond to, and support community initiatives in ECD,
• Development of content and pedagogy that supports the unique characteristics of the pupil population,
• Training of teachers in new management styles and creative teaching and learning strategies,
• Linkages and partnerships with teacher training colleges, and
• Community involvement in school activities and reform.

As in the Coast Province, Provincial and District officials within the North Eastern Province will be involved in the site selection process for program activities.  However, activities in this Province will focus on primary education support to nomadic pastoralist communities.  In this regard, it is anticipated that illustrative activities will include:

• Establishing mobile ECD and lower primary programs through existing madrassas, duksis, or some other form of education strategy,
• Exploring alternative forms of education, possibly through distance education strategies,
• Identifying and training teachers to accommodate the nomadic lifestyle, 
• Creating mobile classrooms, and
• Creating linkages with boarding schools for smooth transition from lower primary to upper primary classes.

In addition, strategic support should be provided for policy formulation and implementation.

Definition of terms:

• Primary Education – the first stage of Kenya’s 8-4-4 education system targeting children ages 6-13 from Standard 1 through Standard 8.
• Opportunities – an expanded view of “access” to include formal and alternative means to achieve a primary education
• Marginalized populations – those populations characterized as minority, disadvantaged, or vulnerable populations, especially Nomads, Pastoralists, and religious minorities, girls and HIV/AIDS orphans.

Trade and Investment Development

USAID is in the process of developing a new trade and investment development program for Kenya. The program will begin in FY 2004 with efforts to mainstream or integrate trade into Kenya’s national development plans.

The trade and investment development program objective in Kenya will assist the Government of Kenya in addressing three inter-related problems:  (a) implementation of Kenya’s bilateral, regional and multilateral trade commitments; (b) increasing competitiveness of the economy in preparation for greater foreign competition; and (c) redefinition and strengthening of existing institutions to enable them to adapt and become more efficient in the multilateral trading system.

More information will be provided later this year once this activity is fully developed.

Education for Development and Democracy Initiative

Background
President Bill Clinton launched the Education for Development and Democracy Initiative during his March 1998 visit to Africa. The initiative is an African-led development program with special emphasis on girls and women. The initiative puts great emphasis on the quality of and access to education for girls; enhances the availability of information communication technology; and increases citizen's participation in government to accelerate Africa's integration into the world of free-market democracies. EDDI also aims to promote sustainable partnerships among African education and democracy organizations and between them and their sister organizations in the United States. The focus countries include Botswana, Ghana, Rwanda, Senegal, Niger, Tanzania, Uganda, Mali, Benin, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mozambique, Madagascar, South Africa, and Kenya.

The Kenya Program
Kenya received funding in Fiscal year 2000 to implement numerous activities in this field. The activities focus on scholarships for bright and poor girls in secondary schools, assisting 22 educational institutions, both public and private universities, the Kenya Institute of Management, and some national polytechnics with high-speed Internet network. Other activities include the provision of Information Technology equipment to primary and secondary schools, connecting and enhancing the use of information technology in government ministries and departments, improving the use of Internet and e-mail services in Kenya’s National Assembly, supporting a few Community Resource Centers in the rural towns to access ICT services, strengthening the ICT capacity of the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) and carrying out an assessment of Kenya's civic education under the Like Minded Donors' program.

Other areas where EDDI and the Leland Initiative put special attention is in the promotion of dialogue with the government to encourage the latter to pursue policies that are conducive to promoting the use of improved telecommunication technology, and to pursue cost based-tariffing. High Internet and e-mail tariffs discourage the use of information technology, thereby increasing the digital divide and hampering e-commerce with serious ramifications to a country's economic growth and development. This is wait we want to avoid.

And in order to ensure that the supported activities continue to bring benefits to Kenyans long after the initiative is over, a comprehensive capacity building program was included in the overall program. Training in network administration and configuration, Website and content development, user applications was given priority during the life of the initiative. Institutions involved in this program participated in the planning and implementation of the activities. In addition, they contributed their own resources, either in monetary terms, materials, or skilled and unskilled labor.

EDDI is implemented by partners such as the Forum for Women Educationists in Kenya, (FAWEK), the Kenya Professional Women in Agriculture and Environment, (KEPAWAE), for the girl's scholarship program. In the information technology program, the Kenya Education Network, a Trust of 22 educational institutions, the Kenya Government ministries and departments; eg. Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Transport and Communications. EDDI also works with Telkom Kenya Ltd. and the Telecommunications Commission of Kenya (CCK). In the Parliamentary side, USAID collaborates with the Parliamentary Service Commission to introduce the use of information technology in Kenya's Parliament and the National Council of Churches of Kenya.
EDDI and the Leland Initiative in Kenya complement one another. While the Leland initiative has been focusing more on policy dialogue and making the relevant equipment availing to participating countries, EDDI focuses more on capacity building in the education sector and improving democratic structures.

The Government of Kenya is a major stakeholder in these initiatives. It facilitates duty-free entry of equipment, provides an enabling environment and listens to suggestion of policy and regulatory reforms from the implementing agencies.
For further information on EDDI and the Leland Initiative, please contact the Director, USAID Kenya.