Celebrating the 63rd Madaraka Day at Wajir Stadium, President William Ruto has placed education at the heart of Kenya’s future, declaring it is most powerful investment the nation can make.
With the theme “Education, Skills and the Future,” Ruto stated that classrooms, laboratories, workshops and innovation hubs that will be the battleground where Kenya will secure its next chapter of liberation. “Education is the bridge between promise and possibility, poverty and prosperity, between exclusion and belonging,” Ruto said, stressing no other tool can transform lives like education.
He noted South Korea has invested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), becoming a technology powerhouse. Singapore has turned its people into the greatest resource, while Finland has built knowledge economy through sustained investment assuring Kenya is moving on the same direction.
President Ruto affirmed the Competency –Based Education and Training system is reshaping learning by equipping children not just to pass exams but to think critically, solve problems, innovate and compete globally.
“What particularly encourages me is that 52% of learners in the first –ever Grade 10 cohort have chosen the STEM pathway. This tells us that a new generation is rising…that will define our nation’s next chapter,” Ruto said.
More than 100,000 teachers have been employed within three years, with 20,000 set to be hired before the year ends, noting that the government has expanded the education budget from Ksh 500 billion in 2022 to over Ksh 702 billion.
In the past three years, 1,800 local teachers from three counties: Wajir, Mandera and Garissa have been employed, with 23,000 classrooms and 1,600 laboratories under construction. At the same time 850, 000 Kenyans are enrolled in TVET. The government is also supporting 2.4 million learners in the school feeding programs in the arid region.
President Ruto has directed the Ministry of Education to ensure every child, has got the opportunity to learn regardless of their background or circumstances.