ADVERT 
ADVERTCabinet Secretary for Education Julius Migos Ogamba met with the leadership of the Global Peace Foundation to explore collaboration aimed at promoting holistic education as Kenya continues the rollout of Competency Based Education. Education that responds to the challenges of today and prepares our youth for the twenty first century must not only be knowledge based but also value driven for the holistic transformation of the learner.
This vision requires an expansion of the curriculum beyond cognitive mastery to include the social, emotional, ethical, and civic dimensions of learning so that young people develop the capacity to think critically, communicate effectively, collaborate across differences, and act with empathy and responsibility in diverse contexts. Embracing holistic education is not a sentimental addition but a strategic necessity for a nation whose future will be shaped by rapid technological change, global interdependence, and complex social challenges. If Kenya is to nurture citizens who can innovate, lead, and sustain democratic institutions, the education system must intentionally cultivate virtues such as integrity, tolerance, resilience, and a commitment to the common good alongside competencies in literacy, numeracy, and digital fluency.
The integration of values into competency based frameworks demands clarity about the purpose of schooling and courage to realign practices that have long prioritized examination performance over character formation. Teachers must be supported to model and teach values through pedagogies that foreground reflection, dialogue, and experiential learning, and education leaders must create school cultures that reward ethical conduct and community engagement. Curriculum design should embed ethical inquiry and civic practice in meaningful contexts, enabling learners to apply knowledge to real life dilemmas and community needs. Assessment systems must be reimagined to capture growth in character and dispositions, not simply the recall of facts. Policy must therefore provide coherent guidance, resources, and incentives for schools to pursue holistic aims, while ensuring accountability mechanisms measure the full range of learner development. This alignment between policy intent and classroom reality is central to transforming the promise of competency based education into tangible outcomes for children across urban and rural Kenya.
Partnerships between the Ministry of Education and civil society organizations such as the Global Peace Foundation can accelerate this transformation by bringing complementary strengths into the national effort. Non state actors often possess expertise in peace education, service learning, and value based programs that can be adapted to local contexts and scaled through collaboration with schools and county education authorities. Such partnerships can pilot innovative practices, provide teacher professional development focused on facilitation and character pedagogy, and mobilize community resources to support extracurricular programs that reinforce classroom learning. Collaboration must be governed by principles of alignment, sustainability, and local ownership so that initiatives become woven into the fabric of public education rather than remaining time limited projects. A deliberate approach to partnership will help ensure that value driven education reaches the most marginalized learners and becomes a feature of everyday school life rather than an optional extra.
Transforming teacher preparation and continuous professional learning is central to embedding values within a competency based system. Pre service training institutions and teacher induction programs must prepare educators to nurture holistic competencies by equipping them with classroom strategies for social emotional learning, restorative practices for managing conflict, and methods for facilitating student centered inquiry. In service professional development should be ongoing, collaborative, and practice oriented, allowing teachers to observe, reflect, and refine techniques with peers. Incentives and career progression pathways should recognize and reward teachers who demonstrate excellence in developing both competence and character. Additionally, school leadership must be strengthened so headteachers and county education managers can create environments where ethical practice is modeled, expected, and sustained. Investing in teachers as agents of holistic transformation signals that the nation values the formation of whole persons, not merely the transmission of information.
ADVERTCommunity engagement is essential for grounding holistic education in the lived realities of learners and for reinforcing values across settings. Families, faith based institutions, local leaders, and community groups are partners in the moral and civic formation of young people, and schools should build purposeful relationships that invite community participation in curriculum enrichment and service projects. Such engagement fosters mutual accountability and creates rich opportunities for intergenerational learning, where young people practice leadership and problem solving in service of tangible community goals. When education is connected to the rhythms and needs of communities, learning becomes relevant and empowering, helping students to see themselves as contributors rather than passive beneficiaries. This reciprocal relationship also strengthens social cohesion and builds networks of support that sustain learners through challenges both inside and outside the classroom.
The imperative to integrate digital literacy and critical media skills into holistic education cannot be overstated, for technology shapes the contexts in which twenty first century citizens live and work. Learners must be equipped to navigate information environments responsibly, to evaluate sources, to communicate ethically online, and to use digital tools for creative problem solving and civic engagement. However, technological integration must be guided by pedagogical purpose and equity, ensuring that digital resources complement values based learning rather than supplant it. Investments in infrastructure and teacher capacity should be matched with strategies that ensure all learners have meaningful, safe, and guided access to technology. By combining digital competence with ethical literacy, education prepares young people to participate constructively in democratic life and to harness innovation for social benefit.
Achieving a transformation towards holistic, value driven education will require sustained political will, adequate funding, and patient stewardship. Short term pilot projects must be allowed to mature into systemic practice through long term commitments that prioritize scaling what works, learning from failures, and adapting to local variation. Budgetary allocations should reflect the expanded aims of competency based education, supporting teacher development, classroom materials, assessment reforms, and community partnerships. Policy stability and coherent implementation plans across national and county levels will reduce fragmentation and enable cumulative progress. Leadership at all levels must communicate a unifying vision of education that places the flourishing of learners and communities at its center, resisting pressures to reduce schooling to narrow metrics.
The stakes of this undertaking are high: the character and capacities we cultivate in our youth will shape Kenya’s social fabric, innovation potential, and democratic resilience for decades. A competency based system that is hollowed of values risks producing technically skilled individuals who lack the civic orientation and moral imagination necessary to steward the public good. Conversely, an education that foregrounds values and holistic development alongside rigorous competencies can produce citizens who are capable, compassionate, and committed to collective prosperity. This is not an either or proposition but a call for integration, an education system that teaches minds, forms hearts, and equips hands for constructive action.
Realizing this integrated vision is a shared responsibility that transcends ministries and organizations; it calls for educators, policymakers, civil society, communities, and families to converge around a common purpose. Thoughtful collaboration, aligned resources, and steadfast commitment will enable Kenya to translate the promise of competency based education into a lived reality where every learner can thrive academically, morally, and socially. By centering values within the competencies we teach, we prepare a generation not only to succeed in the jobs of tomorrow but to sustain the institutions, relationships, and ethical commitments that make a democratic and prosperous society possible.
James’ Kilonzo Bwire is a Media and Communication Practitioner
