The Covid-19 pandemic required education systems to adopt new operational approaches and pivot to new opportunities. This had a significant impact on countries such as Kenya, where the pandemic further escalated existing problems of limited internet access and an expensive process of fostering structural change to accommodate home learning facilities. The education management system is poorly governed, there is a lack of trained teachers and limited inclusivity of girls or students with known disabilities.
Our project is a collaboration between Brunel, the Mwezi Foundation, which supports more than 50 schools in Kenya, and Transmedia Communications Ltd, London-based software development and digital skills training company with experience of continuous support to the education sector in Africa.
The deliverable objectives in this project are:
- Identify ways to enhance monitoring of the home-based education system to overcome the problem of limited inclusion of female and disabled students and to reduce the cost associated with the retention of teachers.
- Enhance the quality of the governance system and assist policy makers to make necessary changes in the education governance structure.
- Maintain and analyse required data related to the education system, especially to ensure that home-based learning still meets recognised standards.
- Enhance the capacity of the non-conventional home-based education system by including the diverse needs of female students and students with known disabilities.
- Minimise the cost of delivering education facilities and maximise the benefit of learning by building and supporting a more efficient education management system.
Our field data helps provide research-based evidence to enhance the suitability of Transmedia Communications ClassCare software product a student assessment and grading software tool.
We conducted interviews with principal stakeholders to understand in detail the problems in the education system in Kenya and importantly, to what extent these problems have escalated with the changing COVID-19 environments.
The findings of this research contribute towards the education system governance, create an enhanced data management system, and provide accountability to the initiatives of educational offices in the country. This will in turn increase the retention and reduce the absenteeism of teachers. It considers factors such as the number of female students in the system, the education provision for students with known disabilities, and the factors affecting the success or failure of home-learning. It will also assist policy makers in developing their strategy around the changing nature of the pandemic.
Dr Monomita Nandy - Monomita Nandy is a Professor in Accounting and Finance in Brunel Business School (BBS). Prof Nandy is the Vice Dean International of the College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences (CBASS). She has completed her two PhDs from the University of Calcutta, India, and the University of Rome Torvergata, Italy. Prior to joining Brunel University, she has held academic and research positions at Lally Business School, New York, Radboud University, Holland, Surrey University, UK and leading institutes in India. She is very popular among students and got Student -led best teacher awards. She is awarded for her innovative and technology-led teaching. She is interested in interdisciplinary research focused on digitalisation in achievement of sustainable development goals alongside her disciplinary research in emerging issues in Corporate Finance. Her research works are published in high impact international peer-reviewed journals like IJFE, JBE, TIJA, BSE and others. She is involved in editorial and review activities of international journals, and regularly she presents her research work at leading conferences in Business and Management. Her research evidence is valued by the UK parliament, Sustainability Board in India, St James Entrepreneur Club London, Small Business Charter in the UK, Chartered Institute of Taxation in England. Monomita conducts research of policy relevance and shares her research expertise by participating in the consultation initiated by the FRC, EU Commission, HMRC and her works draw attention from Media. She is the co-chair of the South-East group of the British Accounting and Finance Association. Her research attracts external funding, her university student-industry collaboration is appreciated by the London Chamber of Commerce and her research collaboration with local business is highly appreciated by business and local authority and her research generates a considerable amount of social aid that support the sustainable growth of the economy with a long-term socio-economic impact.