ABSTRACT
Factors Affecting the Sustainability of Japan’s 『Strengthening Mathematics and Science Education』 Project for Teacher Training in Kenya
Han Byul LEE
Global Education Cooperation Program
The Graduate School Seoul National University

The SMASE (Strengthening Mathematics and Science Education) project was initiated and implemented in the global context in which the old model of technical
cooperation (TC) was criticized because of its short-term engagement and donor-driven nature. The SMASE project tried to address these limitations of TC and aimed at establishing a sustainable in-service training (INSET) system on technical, institutional and financial bases. These bases were jointly formed by Kenya and Japan, but slight more emphasis was on Kenya’s initiatives and self-help efforts. However, the SMASE INSET system has shown several challenges in terms of sustainability. This study analyzes the factors that affected the sustainability of the SMASE INSET system in Kenya. More specifically, it examines the technical, financial and institutional measures which were taken to establish SMASE as a sustainable INSET system, and also the ownership and localization of knowledge initiatives and limitations which affected the sustainability of the SMASE INSET system. The study indicates that the contents, human resources, institutional and
financial measures have been taken to improve sustainability of the SMASE INSET
system. The SMASE INSET curriculum and contents were developed by the efforts of Kenyan trainers and teachers on the basis of teachers’ needs and Kenyan educational context. CEMASTEA (Center for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in Africa) was established to serve as a center for teacher capacity development in mathematics and science education. Human resources for the project such as INSET trainers and administrative personnel have been trained regularly at the center. Under the leadership of the CEMASTEA, the project was implemented using existing management structures and the personnel from national to district level. The institutional frameworks which are cascade model from national to cluster and the enforcement of training to all secondary mathematics and science teachers have contributed to the fast, broad diffusion and establishment of the INSET system. Cost sharing between Kenya and Japan, and a sustainable fund raising mechanism, SMASE Fund, contributed to enhancing the sustainability of the INSET system.
However, there were also limitations which hindered the sustainability of the project. First, what teachers learned during the INSET (ASEI-PDSI approach) were not actively utilized by teachers in the classroom. Second, the lack of capacity of trainers and administrative personnel at the district and cluster level has hampered sustainability of the SMASE INSET system. Third, top-down approach and compulsoriness which failed to bring out teachers’ support and nurture their responsibility have threatened the sustainability of the project. Fourth, there was a discrepancy in the collection rate of the SMASE Fund between schools, and no district succeeded in collecting 100% of the Fund. In addition, the management of SMASE fund has become an issue.
These findings were interpreted from the perspective of ownership and localization of knowledge using analytical frameworks designed by the researcher based on literature review. The result shows that ownership was ensured at the high level (national government), but it was not promoted at the lower level (end-beneficiaries) in the SMASE project. Ownership of the Kenyan Government (GOK) was enhanced by joint project formulation, cost sharing strategy, GOK’s political support, integration of the project into existing structure and system of the GOK, and South-South cooperation with SMASE-WECSA(Western Eastern Central and Southern Africa) member countries.
In terms of nurturing ownership of the most important beneficiaries, the teachers, their participation, empowerment, and consensus were quite limited under the condition of cascade model (top-down model). Also, the enforcement of participation by the Government made teachers de-motivated. Unless teachers consider their role as the agent of change and take ownership of the project, the project cannot be sustained successfully.
The direction of training was introduced and induced by the foreign knowledge from Japan and the knowledge gained through South-South cooperation with the Philippines. However, in the identification of local needs and the development of training contents heavily depended upon local knowledge of Kenya counterparts (C/Ps). Localization of foreign knowledge and utilization of local knowledge contributed to improving the training contents to be more compatible with the condition of the partner country, thereby, contributing to the project being more sustainable and friendly to the local people. In spite of such efforts, however, SMASE-trained teachers still face difficulties to apply the knowledge acquired through the project to the classroom practices. Teachers are still struggling with surrounding circumstances that hinders actual practice of knowledge. This challenge derived from two reasons. First, teachers were recommended to practice advanced teaching methods which was inadequate considering the actual environment where basic needs were not satisfied. Second, the training contents are not compatible with the existing knowledge of other stakeholder institutions due to lack of cooperative institutional network. Such low level of application of training contents resulted the effect of project to be less tangible, simultaneously, has impeded sustainability of the project.
The project shows how ownership and localization of knowledge discourses are practically applied to the development cooperation projects and how these efforts can lead to sustainability of the project. It was found that the ownership of the Government of Kenya was powerful as the project was initiated and led by the government. The INSET contents were developed by Kenyans based on Kenyan teachers’ needs and curricula. However, the project showed limitations in considering the importance of the role of teachers as the main agent of change as the result indicated that their ownership was not reinforced. Another missing piece is that the project was too much focused on the lesson improvement assuming that other basic challenges can be overcome solely by teachers’ attitude. only by training teachers, it is difficult to engender teachers’ capacity development and lesson improvement since the surrounding circumstances were insufficient for the teachers to be innovative and proactive. There needs to be a comprehensive approach to make teachers more motivated to change their teaching attitudes and methods.
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keywords: Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA), Strengthening Mathematics and Science Education (SMASE) Project in Kenya, in-service teacher
training (INSET), sustainability, ownership, localization of knowledge