A national rollout taking shape, Kenya's first Foundational Learning Conference, and a plan to train 67,000 teachers. A look back at a busy half-year, with government in the lead and teachers at the centre.

The first half of 2026 moved quickly for foundational learning in Kenya. In six months, the Ministry of Education and EIDU set the groundwork for a national rollout, the country convened its first Foundational Learning Conference, and a plan took shape to train 67,000 teachers. One thread held it together: government leading, teachers at the centre, and a shared push to get every child reading and counting on time.

Groundwork for national scale

In February, the Ministry of Education and EIDU met in Machakos for a senior management workshop with a clear aim: to move a technology-supported literacy and numeracy programme, already reaching over 690,000 learners across 32 counties, toward a full national rollout by 2027. The forum brought together the State Department for Basic Education and agencies including the TSC, KICD and KNEC, and closed by ratifying a formal governance structure to steer the next phase.

EIDU Kenya Managing Director Fredrick Seda set the results in context, drawing on a year-long randomised controlled trial in Murang'a County. Across nearly 2,000 learners in 291 public schools, the programme was associated with about 0.53 standard deviations of additional learning, more than half a year of extra progress in a single school year. "The evidence from Murang'a is not just EIDU's success, it is Kenya's success, delivered by Kenyan teachers, in Kenyan classrooms, for Kenyan children," Seda said. "The goal is not to present a solution to government, but to build one with it."

The programme keeps growing at county level too. Bungoma recently became the latest to join, rolling out across 36 ECDE centres and training 108 teachers.

From dialogue to action in Mombasa

In March, Mombasa hosted Kenya's first Foundational Learning Conference: three days that brought national and county governments together with development partners and civil society. The question running through it was what it will take to shift the sector's focus from enrolment to actual learning. The consensus was that the tools and evidence already exist, and implementation at scale is the frontier.

Speakers pressed for coordination and better use of data. Martha Odundo, Director of Early Childhood Development and Education, put it plainly: "We need data systems that speak to each other." EIDU's Head of Government Relations, Lilian Gangla, joined the coordination and system-alignment track, and her closing reflection caught the mood: "The tools exist. The evidence exists. The partnerships exist. What remains is the collective will to act."

Teachers at the centre

In April, a Trainer of Trainers workshop in Nakuru set a larger plan in motion: training 67,000 teachers in foundational literacy. Officiated by Stephen Barongo, Head of the Directorate of Primary Education, the workshop equipped master trainers to cascade support to Curriculum Support Officers and champion teachers. The Grade 1 to 3 literacy programme currently runs in eight counties and around 300 public primary schools, reaching some 30,000 learners, with early monitoring pointing to gains in letter-sound recognition and oral reading fluency.

Throughout, the same principle held: technology in service of teaching, supporting teachers rather than standing in for them. That was clear on two visits to Kimorori Primary in Murang'a, in February with the Gates Foundation and ZIZI Afrique, and again in June with partners including Room to Read, TaRL, SHOFCO and FCDO. In classrooms from Pre-Primary to Grade 3, visitors watched teachers lead structured lessons, followed a single thread of data from a teacher's device to the dashboards used by county and national officials, and saw an early pilot of an AI-enabled remedial feature still being refined. The most useful part, each time, was listening to teachers on what works and what needs work.

Looking ahead

Six months in, the direction is set: a government-led national rollout, with the governance, evidence and teacher support to carry it. The appointment of Fredrick Seda as Managing Director of EIDU Kenya, announced separately, marks the next phase of that work alongside the Ministry of Education, the Teachers Service Commission and county governments across the country.