The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is responsible for national policies and programmes that ensure Kenyans access quality and affordable school education, post-school, higher education and academic research. The goals of education in Kenya is to provide, promote and coordinate the delivery of quality education, training and research and enhance integration of science, technology and innovation into national production systems for sustainable development. The structure of the ministry of education in Kenya is divided into two divisions: The State Department of Education and the State Department of Science and Technology. The two state departments are sub divided into eleven directories. Each directory has its own specific mandate enabling the ministry to carry out its functions.
The history of education in Kenya before independence dates back to 1846 when missionaries set up a school at Rabai. Education in the precolonial up to the colonial times was mainly spearheaded by missionaries setting up mission schools and later the colonial government setting up government schools. Some of the earliest schools included Nairobi Primary School established in 1902, Kaimosi Friends Primary School set up in 1903, Maseno School established in 1906 among others.
Soon after independence, the education system in Kenya has transformed twice. In 1967 Kenya Uganda and Tanzania adopted the same system which comprised of 7 years of Primary education, 4 years of secondary education, 2 years of high school and 3-5 years of university education. During Moi’s tenure 8-4-4 system was introduced and has it has served the country for 32 years. Currently a new education system in Kenya is being rolled out by the ministry of education amid cries that it is rushed. This new system is a 2-6-3-3 curriculum which is competence based.
The education sector serves several functions to make the life of each student comfortable in their quest for knowledge. These roles played include;
The function of this directorate is to provide support services to technical directorates in delivering their mandate. The units include: Administration, Central Planning and Project Monitoring Unit (CPPMU), Gender and Guidance and Counselling, Human Resource Department, Information and Communication Technology, Accounts, Finance, Procurement and the HIV/AIDS Unit.
This directorate is responsible for the formulation and designing of pre-primary education policies, effecting primary education, Alternative Provision of Basic Education and Training (APBET) and training of primary school teachers. The directorate is also mandated to implement education to people with special needs.
This directorate is delegated with the task of coordinating secondary education. It also harmonizes the pre-service training for diploma secondary school teachers.
The directorate is responsible for ensuring quality and standards are met in education and training facilities. This is done through periodic assessments in educational institutions. The Directorate works complementary with KICD in the re-evaluation and the development of curricula, and KNEC on curriculum assessment.
This directorate is mandated with the coordination of the overall policy making and enhancing partnerships.
The directorate coordinates Adult and Continuing Education programme. This provides elementary education and skills training opportunities to adults and youths who dropped out of school before reaching bearable levels of education and those who missed the chance to have access to fundamental education and are 15 years and older.
The directorate is authorized to make sure there is coordination and implementation of technical education and training in the country. The directive includes enhancing right of entry, fairness, quality and relevance in technical education and training, provision of financial assistance for development activities in the technical and vocational training, management of technical education programmes, providing career guidance and counseling and encouraging of connections and collaborations between commerce and technical and vocational institutions. It also aims at improving and encouraging research and innovation among technical institutes.
The directorate is responsible for the formulation and implementation of credit transfer policy, ensuring quality and standards for technical training and industrial attachments, introduction of TVET curriculum development, monitoring standards and quality of curriculum realization, overseeing the dispensation of technical and business exams in technical institutions,inspection of institutional facilities and capacity for technical institutes and enabling registration of TVET institutions.
The Directorate of Higher Education's functions include creation and reassessment of policies on higher education in harmony with relevant organizations and agencies, expanding access and improving quality and relevance in university education, coordination of admission of students to public universities in congruence with Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Services Board (KUCCPS) and coordination of students exchange programmes.
The mandate of the directorate includes: creation of research, science, technology and innovation policies, management of knowledge, guiding and enhancing the national research system through policies that rationalize the integration of research and development into overall national economic development.
The directorate is mandated to revitalize and rehabilitate youth polytechnics countrywide. This addresses the constitutional requirement as articulated in Article 53 1(b) regarding provision of free and compulsory basic education and Article 55 (a-c) regarding access to relevant education and training, employment and participation in national development by the youth. An effective organization structure forms an effective background by which an organization delineates groups and coordinates its tasks. Organization structures allows for division of unique functions and processes for allocation to various different employees and departments. A wrongly designed structure may therefore hinder the success of an organization. An appropriate structure should therefore aim to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of an organization and retain order and command whilst promoting flexibility and creativity. READ ALSO: Government jobs in Kenya
The Ministry of Education, just like any other governmental department, has a hierarchical order of power. Here is how the power has been divided.
The office of the Cabinet Secretary is a constitutional office that provides policy and strategy leadership to the ministry. It is currently held by Amb. Amina Chawahir Mohamed. The office is staffed with administrative support staff. They include a cabinet secretary, personal assistant, technical assistant for education, technical assistant for science and technology, personal secretary, support staff and principal driver. Thus, the cabinet secretary is the senior most office bearer in the ministry.
This office is subdivided into two: Office of the Principal Secretary Education and Office of the Principal Secretary Science and Technology. The Principal Secretary is the authorized accounting officer for the ministry. Dr Belio Kipsang is the current Secretary of Education. This office is staffed with two principal secretaries one for the state department of education and the other heading the state department of science and technology.
The directorate is headed by a Secretary of Primary Education at Job Group T and is responsible for:
The directorate is organized into three departments namely: Research, Policy and Strategy; Primary Education Development and Projects, Programmes and Grants
This directorate is headed by a Secretary of Secondary Education at Job Group T. The directorate:
Kitale National Polytechnic admission letters, fee structure, and contacts
The directorate is further organized into two departments namely; Research Policy and Strategy and Secondary and Tertiary Education Development.
This directorate is headed by a Secretary at Job group T. The directorate is responsible for:
This directorate is headed by a Secretary at Job group T. The directorate is responsible for:
Mathenge Technical Training Institute courses, application, contacts
This directorate is headed by a Director at job group S and is responsible to the Education Secretary for planning, organizing, directing, coordinating and controlling Audit Services in Public primary, Secondary and Tertiary institutions.
Office of the Principal Secretary Science and Technology is assigned the following functions;
To accomplish these tasks, it is divided into the following directories:
This office is headed by a Secretary, Science and Technology is graded at job group U. The Director General is responsible for:
2. Directorate of Knowledge Management and Commercialization
Best TVET courses in Kenya in 2022, TVET institutions, requirements
This directorate is headed by a secretary at the level of Job Group T. The directorate is responsible for
This directorate is headed by a secretary who will be graded at Job Group T. The directorate is responsible for:
List of Africa Nazarene University courses
This Directorate is headed by a Secretary who will be graded at Job group T. The Directorate is responsible for:
This Department is headed by a Director who is graded at Job Group S. The Department is responsible for:
With the onset of devolved governments there is need to effectively coordinate functions of the national government at the county levels. This necessitated the post of County Director Education, Science and Technology with two deputies. The county director reports to the both Director General Education and Director General Science and Technology.
READ ALSO: Kenya School of Government Jobs - How to Get the Best
Jackline Wangare (Lifestyle writer) Jackline Simwa is a content writer at Tuko.co.ke, where she has worked since mid-2021. She tackles diverse topics, including finance, entertainment, sports, and lifestyle. Previously, she worked at The Campanile at Kenyatta University. She has more than five years in writing. Jackline graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics (2019) and a Diploma in Marketing (2015) from Kenyatta University. In 2023, Simwa finished the AFP course on Digital Investigation Techniques and Google News Initiative course in 2024. Email: simwajackie2022@gmail.com.
