Every year, Elimu Yetu plans an annual national education conference in Kenya with up to 300 participants to facilitate dialogue between civil society and policy makers. However, Covid-19 restrictions have forced them to plan differently, and the new format proved to be significantly more inclusive than before.
“The Covid-19 restrictions immediately meant for us, that we would have to cancel the conference. But then we sat together and creatively talked: What if we had smaller regional meetings instead?”, Joseph Wasikhongo, National Coordinator of Elimu Yetu, explains.
Increased inclusion of marginalized voices
While developing the regional conferences, Elimu Yetu started realizing the advantages of the new format:
“This form ensured that people had time to thoroughly talk about their education issues. If you are in a room of 35 people talking about education issues connected to your specific area, chances are very high that you will have a chance to talk and engage,” Joseph Wasikhongo notes with great enthusiasm.
