President William Ruto giving his Madaraka Day celebrations speech at Wajir Stadium/SCREENGRAB
President William Ruto has highlighted education reforms and increased investment in teacher training as key interventions that are transforming Northern Kenya and addressing long-standing inequalities in the region.
Speaking during the 63rd Madaraka Day celebrations in Wajir County on Monday, Ruto said the government had deliberately prioritised education in Northern Kenya as part of efforts to promote inclusion and unlock economic opportunities.
The President said education remains the most powerful tool for addressing poverty, exclusion and underdevelopment in historically marginalised regions.
“Of all the investments we are making in Northern Kenya, none is more important than education, which is also the theme of this year’s Madaraka celebrations,” Ruto said.
“Education, skills and the future. Of all the tools a nation possesses, education is the most potent. It is the bridge between promise and possibility, between poverty and prosperity and between exclusion and belonging.”
Ruto said the government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda was designed not only as an economic programme but also as a strategy for ensuring all regions benefit from development.
He said Kenya’s future competitiveness would depend on investments in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), noting that countries such as South Korea, Singapore and Finland achieved rapid development through sustained investment in education.
“The nations leading the world today earned their position because they invested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and became technological powerhouses,” he said.
According to the President, 52 per cent of learners in the first Grade 10 cohort have selected the STEM pathway under the Competency-Based Education and Training system.
“What particularly encourages me is that 52 per cent of learners in the first-ever Grade 10 cohort have chosen the STEM pathway. This tells us that a new generation is rising, one that will drive Kenya’s industrial transformation, power our technological advancement and build the innovation economy that will define our nation’s next chapter,” Ruto said.
He said the government has significantly increased funding for education over the last three years.
“Our education budget has grown from Sh500 billion in 2022 to more than Sh702 billion today,” he said.
Ruto added that the government has recruited more than 100,000 teachers since 2022 and plans to hire an additional 20,000 this year.
“We have hired more than 100,000 teachers in just three years, with 20,000 more set to be hired this year, making it one of the most ambitious teacher recruitment drives in our nation’s history,” he said.
The President said one of the biggest achievements in Northern Kenya has been efforts to train and employ local teachers to address chronic staffing shortages.
“Three years ago, we agreed that the lasting solution to teacher shortages in this region was to train more local teachers,” Ruto said.
He noted that the government operationalised Wajir Teachers Training College, Kutulo Teachers Training College and Mandera Teachers Training College to complement Garissa Teachers Training College.
Through what he described as a focused programme, Ruto said 1,800 local teachers from Wajir, Mandera and Garissa counties have already been recruited and will serve in the region.
“Today, through this programme, a record 1,800 local teachers from the three counties of Wajir, Mandera and Garissa have been employed and will be deployed in the region,” he said.
The President further revealed that 4,616 young people from the region are currently enrolled in teacher training colleges.
“Additionally, 4,616 young people from this region are enrolled in teacher training colleges, the highest number in our history,” he said.
Ruto said the strategy would provide a sustainable solution to teacher shortages that have affected schools in Northern Kenya for decades.
“This is how lasting solutions are built, by investing in people and not just infrastructure,” he said.
He added that the Competency-Based Education and Training system is equipping learners with practical skills needed to compete globally.
“It is equipping our children not merely to pass examinations but to think critically, solve problems, innovate and compete on the global stage,” Ruto said.
