Providing access to education and training is the core mission of Elimu. Our projects empower vulnerable learners of all kinds, especially youth and women, in achieving their educational and work-related goals. We collaborate with the community to increase academic and digital literacy, improve primary and secondary school retention rates, and encourage self-sustainability among young graduates through employment planning and entrepreneurship. Our Elimu Resource Centre uses technology to provide scarce educational resources for students of all kinds.
Recently the Elimu team, from CEO to receptionist, underwent a dynamic capacity-building experience led by STEM Impact Centre Kenya on gender-responsive approaches to teaching STEM related subjects under the new Competence Based Curriculum (CBC). The training focused on how to deliver STEM learning in the current Kenyan education system to cultivate interest and participation of both boys and girls in STEM related subjects and future careers. The exercise shed light on how STEM and competence based learning are linked in the achievement of SDG 4.
“More important than the curriculum is the question of the methods of teaching and the spirit in which the teaching is given”
Globally, less than 3 out of 10 young women study technology subjects in higher education. Recent reports on students taking STEM-based careers in both public and private universities in Kenya shows females at only 25%. This gender gap, as explained in studies done by UNESCO, is influenced by discrimination, biases, social norms and negative expectations imposed on the Kenyan girl.
Elimu has been focusing for years on building digital literacy and proficiency in the community where we are based. We also employ technology to empower girls with solutions for their future career or business paths. We are now formalizing how we deliver digital training through teaching strategies that help reduce the gender gap in STEM achievement. Our programs will help to empower teachers to encourage equal participation and involvement of boys and girls in the learning process.
Today there is a critical need for inclusive learning environments that identify and nurture the potential of every learner. With the right information and resources, organizations and schools can address gender disparities in the pursuit of science, technology, and mathematics, and level the playing field to encourage more of our children, including more of our girls, to consider STEM and IT careers as options for their futures.
We strive to provide access to skills that learners from all backgrounds deserve in order to thrive in the 21st century. We are well equipped to deliver those skills and now better equipped to do so in a gender-responsive approach that also serves both students and teachers alike. We thank the STEM Impact Centre Kenya team for this important training which revealed to us the inspiring opportunities we already have as Elimu Resource Centre to help develop world class standards in education. We are especially grateful to Commonwealth of Learning in Canada for their funding support which made the training possible.