Nurturing and Integrating Values and Life Skills into Education policy and practice: Experiences and lessons from Kenya

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Whether they are called life skills, social-emotional learning skills, 21st-century skills or soft skills, the value and importance of the aforementioned skills is increasing and well deserving of all the attention it is receiving. Life skills have been described as a variety of psychosocial and interpersonal skills which can help young people face the realities of everyday life (Waiganjo. M & Mwangi. M, 2018). This is important given the dynamism of the contemporary world, and the varied challenges young people are experiencing. With technological advancements, more so with a special focus on social media, which have led to increased distress among young people, who also had to deal with a pandemic and increasing global tension, the importance of equipping them with life skills cannot be over-emphasized.

According to UNICEF (2012), all young people must be exposed to learning situations that will provide them with knowledge and allow them to develop skills, attitudes, and values that will enable them to cultivate the abilities to work, participate and contribute fully in their society, to take control of their own lives and to continue learning. This recommendation by UNICEF was a result of the Dakar Framework for Action who hbse goal 3 sought to “ensure that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills” (World Education Forum, 2000, p 16). UNESCO (2017) also emphasized the importance of Life Skills Education (LSE) through the school curriculum in order to accomplish the sustainable development goals. The realization that life skills are important as enablers for one to utilize the technical skills at the workplace has led to many countries initiating educational reforms that infuse LSE into their national curriculum. According to the ILO report (2020), the youth population in Sub-Saharan Africa will be 375M by 2030. Therefore, it is evident that in Sub-Saharan Africa, we need to enhance and improve the teaching and assessment of life skills as key to holistic learning.

According to the World Bank data bank, the proportion of the youth aged 18-34 in Kenya, constitutes 25%, and those below 15 years make up 43% of the total population. Of this population, an estimated 21.25% are currently in primary school. In a decade or two, the vibrant and buzzing souls will be dominating the workspace. Alive to the many emerging social problems in the society and the fact that employers desire employees that have technical skills crowned with life skills, Kenya is making bold steps to infuse education interventions that seek to inculcate the necessary psychosocial and interpersonal skills in students as they go through the school curriculum. Schools remain to be the appropriate place for providing LSE because it is the most important agency for socializing the child; it can provide a wide range of learning experiences to the learners in their formative years. As the Kenyan government upholds Free Primary Education and schools remain in constant contact with the parents and the communities, the capacity for schools to champion wholesome community engagement should be further exploited. With this in mind, The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) is taking lead to take advantage of the fact that young people spend most of their time in schools to provide LSE. As it also pushes for more parental engagement in the learning process at the school level, the benefits of adopting LSE in schools can subsequently overflow to households, directly and indirectly.

LSE has a role in connecting the curriculum with the learners' life, thereby helping them to become self-empowered and active citizens of a better-informed society. In Kenya, LSE in the new 2-6-6-3 education system embraces core competencies or life skills that are to be integrated into the various learning areas. These life skills are communication, collaboration, self-efficacy, critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity and imagination, citizenship, digital literacy and learning to learn (KICD, 2017, p 21). This provides an opportunity to use LSE in improving the quality of education offered to young people. As Kenya goes through an educational transformation, the curriculum implementers are not only pursuing the achievement of good grades but also purposely integrating learners’ acquisition of life skills competencies in the learning processes.

This will not only prepare the young people for self-reliance but will also empower them productively to participate in national development. According to a recently released report by the Psychiatric Disability Organization, 1 out of 4 persons who seek healthcare in Kenya has a mental health condition. Further, depression is common and there are increasing rates of substance and alcohol use disorders. In order to protect the younger people from this daunting reality, they have to be equipped with life skills which are credited to increase their capacity to handle adversity. For a society to thrive, people have to be well equipped to deal with the changes that are part of daily life. Therefore, the earlier and better equipped younger people are, the higher their chances to protect and safeguard their well-being and that of the communities they live in. The success of LSE will depend on the commitment of the stakeholders and especially the teachers who spend a lot of time with young people in school.

While Kenya embraces LSE and continues to prioritize approaches and interventions that Nurture and Integrate Values and Life Skills, many lessons are being documented. The authors of the following abstracts are keen to outline some of the approaches and interventions and the lessons that are coming out.

Objective of the group Panel:

The objective of the panel is to share Experiences and lessons from Kenya on Nurturing and Integrating Values and Life Skills into Education policy and practice.

Structure of the group panel:

The first paper will speak to Integrating Psychosocial Support in life skills and values programming in secondary schools in Kitui County, Eastern Region of Kenya. The second paper will unpack Holistic Innovations for Kenya’s Education (HIKE). The third paper examines learning assessments utilization in Kenya and highlights the challenges and opportunities.

Sub Unit

• Africa SIG

Chair

• Michael Babu, Strathmore University

Individual Presentations

• Integrating Psychosocial Support in life skills and values programming in secondary schools in Kitui County, Eastern Region of Kenya - Victoria Mutheu Mwema, Strathmore University

• Holistic Innovations for Kenya’s Education (HIKE) - Agatha Kimani, Ziziz Afrique Foundation; Michael Babu, Strathmore University

• Learning assessments utilization in Kenya: challenges and opportunities - Samuel O Otieno

Discussant

• John Mugo, Zizi Afrique Foundation