US to spend Sh15 million on science education
By Rawlings, February 2, 2024
The United States government is set to spend Sh15 million on improving Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) education and increasing economic opportunities for Kenyan students.
The initiative dubbed Kenya-USA Global Launchpad Initiative (KUGLI) will see some 131 students from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) benefit from the programme.
The initiative spearheaded by Kenyan scholar and lecturer, Dr Churchill Saoke, seeks to empower the students to become entrepreneurs and innovators with the ability to solve emerging problems in various sectors of the economy.
Through the initiative, Kenyan students will work jointly with their students from US-based Syracuse University and the Blackstone Launchpad to develop joint micro-international ventures.
According to Dr Saoke who is the founder of the programme in Kenya, the initiative is the solution to solving the challenges of unemployment and bridging the skill gap among students in college and universities.”
“Out of these projects, the business will be modelled and the best team will be awarded and then taken through executive coaching to ensure the ventures pick up. The projects will be presented at an innovation conference in Kenya,” Dr Saoke revealed.
The Kenya USA global Launchpad initiative is expected to cement academic, and educational relations between Kenyan and American universities, and create a vibrant platform for joint collaboration to tackle challenges facing Kenya and the US.
The students, mainly drawn from science, technology, engineering and the arts fields, will undergo experiential training on entrepreneurship, thereafter; a joint global team will be established to carry out joint projects that seek to solve specific challenges in the society.
The programme, which is set to run from January to November, will also include physical experiential training in different Kenyan universities and joint training with students from Syracuse University.
The Blackstone launch pad will help with mentorship and coaching and will culminate in an innovation conference in June this year.
Under the initiative, besides the people-to-people relations expected to be strengthened, educational opportunities between Kenya and the US will be shared amongst participants from both countries.