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Safeguarding the goalposts of education
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Beyond physical education, sport plays a critical role in shaping the next generation of students.

After countless debates over the quality of education in Kenya, the government is set to roll out the new competency based curriculum, 2-6-6-3 to replace the current 8-4-4 education system that has often been criticised as churning out half-baked graduates. Under the guidance of Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, the new system’s pathway is envisioned to harness skills and talents of participants so that they can effectively solve some of the country’s biggest problems. It’s no longer about the number of schools being built that guarantees the success of an education programme but the in-school forces; home-schooling as a new learning method and use of technology in schools and external drivers; socio-cultural and political perspectives which come into play. How do they influence existing educational standards?

This brings into focus the role that sport has as a catalyst in quality education. While it is often viewed as an outdoor element in supplementing human development, sports goes beyond just the precincts of physical education sessions and into playing a critical role in encouraging access to quality education.

Technical and vocational education training (TVET) is one such example that has demonstrated the role of sport as an intervention in producing a skilled workforce. Kenya and Ethiopia are already seeing the importance of sport in expanding the worldview of learners beyond the scope of classrooms. Through Eastlands College of Technology, under the Strathmore Educational Trust, Atletico Madrid football club has provided football opportunities for learners to build key soft skills as they partake in various courses in Nairobi while in Ethiopia, GIZ together with its Ethiopian partners published a Sport2work manual to enhance employability skills.

Experts in academia and the sports industry continue to collaborate to safeguard the academic life of an aspiring athlete. This is why Football Kenya Federation established the Centers of Excellence in cooperation with Thome School and Wadi Degla sports clubs to provide a conducive learning environment for its players as they pursue their footballing dreams. Internationally, the Olympic Academy as well as FIFA continue to provide educational opportunities for those in the sports industry to pursue their education in sports oriented disciplines such as the FIFA Master.

With cutting-edge technology, new perceptions as a result of research and proper frameworks, sport and education can intersect to help build the next generation of responsible intellectuals.

Authors

Social Development through Football Organiser
Ona Ink