Introduction
PACE is an initiative that seeks to bridge
the performance gap between the public and private primary schools. We will do
so by engaging Kenya’s most brilliant high school graduates as teaching
assistants (TAs) and mentors in these underserved public schools. We select
academically gifted scholars fresh from secondary school, train them, link them
to the schools that need them and support them through out the volunteer
process. This will help engage the
youth to positively impact education in Kenya and promote community
development.
Founded in 2012, by Peggy Mativo, the PACE program seeks to simultaneously solve two problems that plague the Kenyan educational system:
Founded in 2012, by Peggy Mativo, the PACE program seeks to simultaneously solve two problems that plague the Kenyan educational system:
1) The shortage of structured, productive community engagement opportunities
for young people. This lack of meaningful activity promotes idleness,
violence, drugs and sexual experimentation among the youth.
2)
The educational inequity due to cripplingly high student to teacher
ratio in public primary schools. Due to the additional work that comes with large
classrooms, teachers in these schools are unable to give the students the
individual attention they need to reach their full potentials compared to their
counterparts in well-resourced, adequately staffed schools.
The TAs will be deployed to the public
primary schools existing within less than 50km radius from their residence.
They will be trained to handle young scholars and the importance of community
service among other important aspects of life during their induction into the
program.
The people we intend to partner with
The secondary
school administrations will help the team to select qualified teaching
assistants from their schools before they sit their final form four exams. The primary school administrations will advise
PACE on strategies of integrating the TAs into the school routine and give
important feedback on TA performance.
The selection of teaching assistants (TAs)
The selection process will involve 3 parts:
a short written application, transcript evaluation (to be done at school) and
an interview of shortlisted candidates (in December). We will select TAs based
on academic ability, motivation, behaviour, passion for community service and
proximity of their residential areas to partner public primary schools.
Role of Teaching Assistants (TAs)
The teaching assistant will supplement, not
replace, the teachers within the schools. They will guide students on matters
of academics, social matters through practical methods such as grading,
teaching aid preparation, guidance and extracurricular activity management
The future of PACE in brief
After learning from this pilot program, PACE
will gradually increase the number of volunteers and schools that we establish
our volunteer program in. We hope to one-day send volunteers to every county in
Kenya, to involve our alumni in the leadership of the program and the mentoring
of incoming volunteers.
Through our network of alumni and
volunteers, we hope to establish a culture of community engagement, awareness
and leadership. We believe that there is a generation of young leaders who will
develop their skills and ability by engaging with the root causes and real
impact of education inequity.
