Equity and inclusion: Towards an accelerated action to enhance learning in East Africa (being designed). Briefing Paper. Nairobi: APHRC

Abstract

Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania are signatories to the national laws, regional and international conventions which reassert the role of the State to ensure the rights of children, particularly in education, are protected and fulfilled for enhanced equity and inclusive in education. Therefore, these countries cannot implement their national laws on inclusion without paying attention to the regional and international conventions guiding inclusion. It is no longer enough to state that the ‘right’ education is offered; rather, education must be inclusive and equitable not only in its provisions, but also in the way in which disenfranchised populations are made aware of their rights and their active inclusion into the education system. This includes, but is not limited to hiring of teachers, building infrastructure, and putting in place a functional education system involving monitoring and evaluation of schools, teachers, and instructors; teacher- training; hiring and accreditation (Adoyo & Odeny, 2015). Foregoing debates on equity and inclusion, and the need for actors in the education sector to respond to these needs among children in their programs is what spurred the need for an education initiative, RELI. There was a need for RELI members to share their perspectives on what programs they are working on and how these programs are responding to the needs of children in East Africa, as pertains to Equity and Inclusion. The Regional Education Learning Initiative (RELI) began in 2017 as a member-led initiative with a network of over 70 member- organizations in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, with the sole aim of addressing the challenges that affect the education of children in East Africa. The RELI initiative has three pillars that underpins its operations across East Africa, which are; transformed organizations, co-creating evidence for an informed knowledge hub, and evidence-based policy engagement and influence