Kenya National Commission for UNESCO join hands with MKU to enhance inmates teachers training

Mount Kenya University has been having pedagogical skills training as a corporate social responsibility activity by the school of education at Naivasha maximum security prison. On 18th March 2017, Kenya National Commission for UNESCO representative Dr. Reuben Nthamburi joined MKU staff and donated a television set, DVD player, TV aerial and digital content from Kenya Institute for Curriculum Developing (KICD) for use by inmates to prepare for their KCSE examinations.

This will go a long way in improving the overall performance of learners in the prison sitting for national examinations. Kenya National Commission for UNESCO is also a partner in a research by the school of education at the Naivasha maximum security prison that seeks to look at “effectiveness of offline study desk on prison education” that has been shortlisted for funding by the National Research Fund (NRF).

The partnership between MKU and Kenya National Commission for UNESCO will go a long way in strengthening the UNESCO chair at MKU, Nakuru campus whose MOU has been signed by MKU Vice-Chancellor and UNESCO Secretary general in Paris, France, Dr. Irina Bokova. Upon completion, it is hoped that the results of the research at Naivasha maximum prison will inform the prison education policies in Kenya and probably beyond.

faculty members from Mount Kenya University and UNESCO representatives during their visit o Naivasha Maximum Prison

The MKU – Naivasha Maximum Prison partnership was initiated by Madam Jayne Muchiri – Marquard who was brought up at the prison in the 70s by her late father who was a warden and she continues to marshal hefty support to the prison both financially and in kind from her own resources and from well wishers as a way of giving back to the prison that nurtured her into what she is today.

The partnership was initiated through the Directorate of Quality Assurance and Linkages in December 2015 and has so far been taken up very strongly by the School of Education of MKU under the unwavering and passionate coordination of the Dean, school of Education, together with the Director, Distance and Institution-Based Learning(formerly School Based Programmes) and his Deputy Director.