Intel Confidential11

Action Plan

Intel ISEF

Educator AcademyMay 2012

Kenya

Kenya Students Congress on Science & Technology Status

• Established in 1962• Run as the Kenya Students Congress on

Science & Technology• Under the Ministry of Education, Directorate of

Quality Assurances & Standards• National competition runs annually in June of

every year• The competition is for secondary schools

students only

Subject and Categories

• There are 8 subjects as follows:– Agriculture– Biology– Chemistry– Computer Studies– Home Science– Mathematics– Physics– Technical subjects

• Each of the above subject is presented either as:– Talk (theory)– Exhibit (practical)

• Resulting in a total of 16 categories

Details

• Competitions start at school level which then compete in zones

• Zonal winners compete at District level• The winners of District level compete at

Provincial level (8 provinces)• The best 3 finalists in every category at the

Provincial level then compete in the National Finals

Judging & Ethics

• At School, district and provincial level the judges are teachers drawn from schools

• At National Level, each category is judged by a team of 3 judges drawn from Universities, technical colleges, and Ministry of Education parastatals & officials

• All levels of competitions use a common marking and judging scheme

• Judges at all levels are trained by the regional chief judges before the competitions begin

• Judges from lower levels (schools, zonal, district or provincial) are not allowed to judge at the National level

• A detailed set of rules, guidelines and ethics are outlined that are followed rigorously

Organisational Structure

High Level Goals

We want to strengthen and encourage STEM Education in the country by creating incentives through a very competitive Science Fair (The Kenya Students’ Congress on Science & Technology)– Demystify STEM subjects– Encourage more student participation in science subjects

in schools – Development of research skills amongst students– Improve job creation to align Kenya’s goals of Vision 2030

of becoming the region’s hub of technology– Improve gender parity by encouraging enhanced girls’

participation in Sciences (current ratio of Girls to Boys is 40:60)

– Enable Kenyan students to be exposed to International standards

2 Tiered Approach of Goals1st Tier

• Short term goals (1 to 3 years)– Restructure the management of KSCS&T – Better recognition nationally– Affiliate to ISEF– Establish a bank of mentors to assist students– Improve quality of teachers and head teachers workshops– Appoint sub committees – IRC and regional committees –

SRC to review scientific and ethical issues– Selection of final participants to represent the country in

ISEF – Review and improve judging– Collaboration with Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI)

for Patenting of Students Projects– Collaboration with National Council for Science and

Technology

2 Tiered Approach of Goals2nd Tier

• Long term goals (5 years)– Extend the KSCS&T to primary schools (in 5 years), and

tertiary institutions (in 3 years) – Increase the number of students participating in the

KSCS&T at grassroots level by 10% every year for 5 years– Collaborate with local universities (job alignment &

Research)– Find new ways to increase sponsorship and funding for

KSCS&T– Monitoring and Evaluation of students’ work

• Research abilities• Improvement in performance in STEM subjects• Increase in STEM subject enrolments

– Encourage more participation in KSCS&T by girls

Success Indicators

• We would like to see:– 2 new affiliated fairs: Primary & Tertiary institutions– Over 80% secondary schools participating at grassroots levels

by 2017– University as mentors and linking the KSCS&T to Careers– Improvement in KSCS&T awards, scholarships and the finals

achieving International standards – invite other African countries to participate

– Improved grades in STEM subjects in the National Exams by 40% by 2017

– A full time Executive Director appointed to KSCS&T– Increased publicity giving KSCS&T by 100% by 2013– Participate at the Intel ISEF by 2013– Mentorship program launched by 2014– Formation of IRCs and SRC by March 2013

– Judging standards to be aligned to Intel ISEF standards by March

2013

Action Plan – Steps to Meet Our Goals and Objectives

Please refer to the below Action Plan Tracker. We will be using resources from the Intel Educator Academy Sites

wherever possible.

Action Plan tracker

Intel ISEF Educator Academy

• As a result of our participation in the 2012 Educator Academy– We felt the below were the most important aspects we

learnt:• Importance of Science Fairs to increase interest in STEM

education

• Networking and sharing of experiences with delegates from other countries

– Shop Talks that were the most beneficial for your team?• Creating & Sustaining a STEM high school model

• 3 steps to systemic improvement in Science Education and increased participation in Science fairs

• A flipped classroom

• International Teas new to Science Fairs

• A peer to peer approach to high school research

– What types of Shop Talks were missing?• Clear cut instructions on affiliation of new science fairs to ISEF

The Kenya Team