GI-ESCR at the Transforming Education Summit (TES), Kenya National Civil Society Consultation Forum
On 4 August 2022, GI-ESCR participated in The Transforming Education Summit (TES), Kenya National Civil Society Consultation Forum held in Nairobi together with other civil society organisations (CSOs) working on education.
The Regional Education Learning Initiative (RELI) organised the forum in partnership with the Ministry of Education Science and Technology (MoEST) and Kenya National Commission for UNESCO.
The objectives of the consultation forum were to highlight the status of the action tracks around the thematic areas that were to be presented (the existing gaps and good practices), which would inform a two page statement to be presented at the United Nations General Assembly and a national consultation report.
The presentations at the forum were on the following thematic areas:
Inclusive, equitable safe and healthy schools
Learning and skills for life work and sustainable development
Digital Learning and transformation
Teachers Teaching and the teaching profession
Financing of Education
GI-ESCR was invited to present and lead the discussion on financing education. Roselyne Onyango from GI-ESCR highlighted the human rights legal obligations regarding financing education as elaborated in the Abidjan Principles on the right to education which emphasise prioritising resources for strengthening public education and proceeding with caution when considering partnerships with non-state actors. The presentation also highlighted the 4S Framework which calls on states to pay particular attention to the size of the national budget, share of the education budget, sensitivity to ensure equitable education and enhanced scrutiny of education budgets.
The presentations sparked fruitful discussions and some of the recommendations that were brought forward included: implementing policies such as having national quality assurance frameworks, and cautioning the state to proceed with caution when entering into private public partnerships for the sake of financing quality education.
Learn more abour our work on education.