The outgoing Cabinet Secretary for Education Prof George Magoha believes Kenyan parents will miss him after his tenure comes to an end.
Speaking at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development(KCID) on Monday, CS Magoha said it was probably the last time he was addressing the country as a minister.
Magoha, who has often clashed with Kenyan parents over some of his directives especially in the advent of the new Competency Based curriculum (CBC), joked that they will miss him when he is gone.
He insisted that most of the decisions he took during his tenure were not meant to hurt parents but out of goodwill.
“I know they say I make a lot of noise but parents will miss me because of the good work I’ve done for them,” he said.
CS Magoha also spared some advice to his would-be successor.
“Work is not at Jogoo House, it’s out in the field. If you sit in the office and wait for reports you’ll be surprised,” Magoha said.
He gave an example of a school in Uasin Gishu County where he had received reports that classroom construction was ongoing but was shocked to find otherwise.
“When (Chief Administrative Secretary Sara) Rutto got there, she almost fainted because she found they have just started pouring the slab,” he said.
Magoha said running the Education ministry is not a walk in the park, but assured his successor that he had laid a solid foundation to build on.
“All these preparations make me comfortable that my successor will find a good script to follow in the implementation of CBC,” he said.
“This ministry is not for the faint-hearted; starting from Jogoo House to the field to your house. I am proud of my record and remain confident that the lady or gentleman who will come after me will find a comfortable place to continue from.”
At the KCID on Monday, CS Magoha launched the new re-engineered National Education Management System (NEMIS).
The CS said the new upgraded system will provide more accurate data and is fine-tuned to serve all the stakeholders in the education ministry while allowing parents to monitor their children’s learning.
The system will also ease data retrieval for timely decision-making and also facilitate data reliability for all the stakeholders.
“The system provides accurate data and become more attuned to Ministry of Education end users.” Magoha said.
The upgraded system has also introduced a new feature allowing parents to monitor their children’s progress and initiate school transfers.
