29 September 2026
Mr John Lekakeny Ololtuaa, CBS
Principal Secretary
State Department for Basic Education
Ministry of Education
Republic of Kenya
Closing the gap between national ambition and classroom reality by helping schools access the right evidence, support, capability and resources.
Kenya has already designed the change,
invested in the system
and begun implementation.
The next opportunity is to understand,
school by school,
what is working,
why it is working,
where implementation is getting stuck,
and what action or resource will close the gap.
One Big Change helps connect Ministry priorities, school evidence, implementation barriers, available capability and measurable results.
The ambition was transformational. The investment is already substantial.
The move to Competency-Based Education went beyond a curriculum restructure. It was a response to the limitations of an examination-heavy 8-4-4 system: curriculum overload, insufficient practical learning and teacher-preparation challenges.
The ambition was to nurture every learner's potential through 21st-century knowledge and skills, preparing engaged, empowered and ethical citizens.
CBE was designed to develop critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, digital literacy and practical capability across every stage of learning.
It was designed to open pathways that recognise different talents and prepare learners for a wider range of futures than the previous system allowed.
The goal went beyond changing the curriculum. It was to change what a Kenyan learner is prepared to become.
120,000
teachers reported recruited over the preceding three years
220,097
educators reported retooled on CBE
KSh 767.3BN
projected education-sector allocation for FY2026/27
KSh 54.6BN
Free Day Secondary Education
KSh 30.7BN
Junior Secondary School capitation
10,382
laptops being distributed to Junior Schools
10,382
interactive smartboards
62,000+
teachers trained in ICT integration
47
counties reached by the digital deployment
23,659
primary schools
9,383
secondary schools
The question is no longer whether Kenya is investing.
The opportunity is to understand how consistently that investment is becoming the experience CBE intended inside individual schools.
Sources: Ministry of Education, National Treasury, Parliament of Kenya. Figures reflect publicly reported budget allocations and deployment targets.
1.13M+
Grade 9 learners entering the Senior School transition
2.4M
approximate Senior School places
330
secondary schools reported receiving no Grade 10 learners
~2,400
schools reportedly receiving fewer than 20 learners
CBE implementation is now producing real-world variation from which Kenya can learn.
That variation creates an opportunity to identify the conditions behind stronger implementation and apply those lessons across different school contexts.
Why does the same national reform
land differently in different schools?
Existing systems can show
What is happening?
Change Lens helps explain
Diagnose before we prescribe.
Methodology + AI-assisted software + human judgement
The Kenyan Change Lens proof of concept would be shaped around Ministry priorities, Ministry-defined KPIs, existing Kenyan frameworks, existing Ministry data, school-level qualitative evidence and appropriate safeguarding and data controls.
AI-Assisted Intelligence
Human-Led Decision Making
Human judgement remains central.
2
Stronger-implementation schools
Understand what is working exceptionally well.
4
Developing / mixed-implementation schools
Understand where implementation is working inconsistently.
4
More constrained school contexts
Understand how staffing, infrastructure, geography, resources, inclusion and socioeconomic factors affect implementation.
Working design
To be refined with the Ministry. The cohort is organised by implementation context so that the programme can learn deliberately from variation across schools.
Reverse-Engineer Success
What are the stronger schools doing that enables CBE to work?
The purpose is to understand what makes strong implementation possible, identify the enabling conditions behind it and determine what can transfer successfully across different school contexts.
Kenya may already hold much of the capability it needs.
Government agencies, universities, development partners, foundations, businesses, NGOs, technology organisations, professional bodies and communities are already investing in education.
USD 160M
IDA credit
USD 40M
refugee-window grant
KSh 1BN
Government counterpart funding
Example: Kenya Primary Education Equity in Learning (KPEEL) programme.
Who is already doing what?
Where?
Against which priority?
With what capability?
For which schools?
Where are the gaps?
Where is there duplication?
The intervention follows the evidence.
What the Ministry could receive
The first 10 generate the learning. Research validates it. Traction Partners respond to evidenced needs. LocaeHubs help strong practice travel.
The journey from 10 schools to sustained capability
The first phase builds the evidence. The next phase builds the capability.
Research & Evidence
Research partners help shape:
What worked?
Why?
For whom?
In which context?
Under what conditions?
Should it be repeated?
Traction Partners
Foundations & Development Partners
Funding, specialist programmes, implementation capability
Businesses & Employers
Technology, equipment, infrastructure, expertise, pathways
Universities & Research Institutions
Research, evaluation, CPD, specialist knowledge
Education & Technology Organisations
Software, assessment, professional development, school-improvement capability
Community & Specialist Organisations
Wellbeing, inclusion, safeguarding, family engagement and local capability
The need comes first. The partner follows.
LocaeHubs & Lead Schools
Where evidence supports the model, founding schools can help form Lead School or LocaeHub networks so that implementation learning, strong practice and local capability can move between schools.
The Ministry already holds the policy direction, substantial implementation data, significant investment and the mandate for Basic Education.
Senior School implementation has begun
Real implementation evidence now exists
Substantial Government investment is already flowing
Future cohorts can benefit from early learning
Implementation Visibility
Where CBE implementation is strong, where it varies and why.
Strong-Practice Intelligence
Which conditions are enabling stronger implementation.
Barrier Intelligence
Which challenges recur and what is driving them.
Resource Intelligence
Which organisations, funding, technology and expertise already exist.
Better Resource Matching
Directing existing capability toward evidenced need.
Research & Evidence
Understanding which responses work, where and under what conditions.
School-to-School Capability
Helping successful practice move between schools.
Additional Resource Mobilisation
Bringing foundations, businesses, universities and other partners around Government priorities.
Implementation Continuity
Building capability inside Kenyan schools and institutions.
Evidence for the Next Decision
Clearer grounds for deciding what to sustain, adapt, expand or stop.
The value is a faster route from
One Big Change can help Government make existing education investment work harder while mobilising additional expertise, research, technology and partner resources around evidenced need.
Education, Schools & Research
200+ UK school network
School-improvement pilots and programme development
Canterbury Christ Church University
King's College London
University of Greenwich
University of Northampton
Harris Federation
UK schools and education organisations
Local authority / council relationships
Innovation, Technology & Scale
Innovate UK
Barclays Eagle Labs Product Builder
Grow London Global
London & Partners
SETsquared Scale-Up
NatWest Accelerator
EDUCATE
Sunderland Software City
Kenya Leadership & Developing Relationships
Dr Ben Chumo
Chair, One Big Change Kenya Advisory Committee
Benjamin Sogomo
Education and institutional adviser / contributor to programme development
Dr Teresa Ngigi
Technical discussions around wellbeing, safeguarding, implementation and capacity sustainability
Aga Khan Education Service, Kenya
Direct discussions with Salman Rajani, CEO, around CBE implementation, school improvement, teacher development and potential collaboration on the Kenyan founding phase
Existing and developing university relationships include University of Greenwich, University of Northampton, King's College London and Canterbury Christ Church University. Research participation in the Kenya founding phase will be confirmed during technical design.
Government sets the direction.
Change Lens creates the implementation intelligence.
One Big Change coordinates the response.
Research shows what works.
Traction Partners add capability and resources.
LocaeHubs help the learning travel.
The full implementation cycle
Our immediate request is a 30-minute online meeting with you and, where appropriate, relevant members of your technical team.
The purpose is to test this proposition against the Ministry's priorities, understand which implementation questions matter most to you, and determine whether a small founding phase could generate useful evidence and practical value.
Together, we would like to explore five questions:
Which CBE implementation KPIs matter most to the Ministry now?
What does the Ministry believe is already working particularly well and should be understood and replicated?
Where would deeper school-level implementation insight be most useful?
Could a 10-school founding implementation cohort and Change Lens proof of concept complement the systems, programmes and evidence already in place?
Who should work with us to shape the Kenyan methodology, measures and school selection before implementation begins?
Subject to alignment, the next stage would be a short technical design phase to agree the parameters shown here.
Technical design phase
Kenya has already set the direction and committed substantial resources to CBE.
The next advantage will come from learning faster from implementation.
A 30-minute conversation with your office could determine whether this approach can help turn the evidence already emerging from schools into faster, more targeted implementation improvement for the cohorts that follow.
We would welcome the opportunity to explore that with you.
Yours sincerely,
Yvonne Buluma-Samba
Founder & Framework Director
LocaeRise | One Big Change Kenya
ybuluma@locaerise.com
onebigchange.info
Ministry of Education
education.go.ke
Teacher recruitment, CBE retooling, capitation and digital deployment figures
National Treasury
treasury.go.ke
FY2026/27 education-sector allocation
Parliament of Kenya
parliament.go.ke
Budget estimates and sector approvals
KICD
kicd.ac.ke
Curriculum design and competency framework
KNEC
knec.ac.ke
Assessment and transition data
World Bank (KPEEL)
worldbank.org
IDA credit and refugee-window grant
All figures are drawn from publicly reported Government and official sources. This brief is a private introductory document prepared for the Principal Secretary, State Department for Basic Education.
One Big Change Kenya by LocaeRise
Private Introductory Brief
Prepared for: Mr John Lekakeny Ololtuaa, CBS, Principal Secretary, State Department for Basic Education
Closing the gap between national ambition and classroom reality by helping schools access the right evidence, support, capability and resources.
29 September 2026
Kenya has already designed the change, invested in the system and begun implementation.
The next opportunity is to understand, school by school, what is working, why it is working, where implementation is getting stuck, and what action or resource will close the gap.
One Big Change helps connect Ministry priorities, school evidence, implementation barriers, available capability and measurable results.
01 / THE AMBITION & THE INVESTMENT
The ambition was transformational. The investment is already substantial.
The move to Competency-Based Education went beyond a curriculum restructure. It was a response to the limitations of an examination-heavy 8-4-4 system.
The ambition was to nurture every learner's potential through 21st-century knowledge and skills.
CBE was designed to develop critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, digital literacy and practical capability across every stage of learning.
It was designed to open pathways that recognise different talents and prepare learners for a wider range of futures.
The goal went beyond changing the curriculum. It was to change what a Kenyan learner is prepared to become.
120,000
teachers reported recruited over the preceding three years
220,097
educators reported retooled on CBE
KSh 767.3BN
projected education-sector allocation for FY2026/27
KSh 54.6BN
Free Day Secondary Education
KSh 30.7BN
Junior Secondary School capitation
10,382
laptops being distributed to Junior Schools
10,382
interactive smartboards
62,000+
teachers trained in ICT integration
47
counties reached by the digital deployment
23,659
primary schools
9,383
secondary schools
The question is no longer whether Kenya is investing.
The opportunity is to understand how consistently that investment is becoming the experience CBE intended inside individual schools.
Sources: Ministry of Education, National Treasury, Parliament of Kenya.
02 / THE IMPLEMENTATION SIGNAL
1.13M+
Grade 9 learners entering the Senior School transition
2.4M
approximate Senior School places
330
secondary schools reported receiving no Grade 10 learners
~2,400
schools reportedly receiving fewer than 20 learners
CBE implementation is now producing real-world variation from which Kenya can learn.
That variation creates an opportunity to identify the conditions behind stronger implementation and apply those lessons across different school contexts.
Why does the same national reform land differently in different schools?
Existing systems can show
What is happening?
Teacher deployment and retooling
Learner enrolment and attendance
Assessment and performance data
Capitation and resource allocation
Infrastructure and devices deployed
Participation and transition data
Change Lens helps explain
Why is it happening?
What is enabling progress?
What is the underlying barrier?
What support would make the difference?
What should happen next?
Diagnose before we prescribe.
03 / CHANGE LENS
Methodology + AI-assisted software + human judgement
The process
The Kenyan Change Lens proof of concept would be shaped around Ministry priorities, Ministry-defined KPIs, existing Kenyan frameworks, existing Ministry data, school-level qualitative evidence and appropriate safeguarding and data controls.
AI-Assisted Intelligence
✓ synthesises qualitative and quantitative evidence
✓ surfaces recurring implementation patterns
✓ identifies similarities across school contexts
✓ organises implementation evidence
✓ helps connect identified needs with relevant capability and resources
✓ accelerates learning across the cohort
Human-Led Decision Making
✓ Ministry priorities define the framework
✓ educators interpret school context
✓ authorised professionals validate findings
✓ safeguarding and data governance shape use
✓ people determine interventions and decisions
Human judgement remains central.
04 / THE FOUNDING 10
2
Stronger-implementation schools
Understand what is working exceptionally well.
4
Developing / mixed-implementation schools
Understand where implementation is working inconsistently.
4
More constrained school contexts
Understand how staffing, infrastructure, geography, resources, inclusion and socioeconomic factors affect implementation.
Working design, to be refined with the Ministry. The cohort is organised by implementation context so that the programme can learn deliberately from variation across schools.
Reverse-Engineer Success
What are the stronger schools doing that enables CBE to work?
The purpose is to understand what makes strong implementation possible, identify the enabling conditions behind it and determine what can transfer successfully across different school contexts.
05 / FROM EVIDENCE TO ACTION
Government agencies, universities, development partners, foundations, businesses, NGOs, technology organisations, professional bodies and communities are already investing in education.
USD 160M
IDA credit
USD 40M
refugee-window grant
KSh 1BN
Government counterpart funding
Example: Kenya Primary Education Equity in Learning (KPEEL) programme.
Who is already doing what?
Where?
Against which priority?
With what capability?
For which schools?
Where are the gaps?
Where is there duplication?
The intervention follows the evidence.
What the Ministry could receive
01 Ministry-aligned implementation KPIs
02 10-school implementation baseline
03 Analysis of stronger implementation practice
04 Recurring-barrier analysis
05 School-context comparison
06 Implementation resource map
07 Needs-to-resource matching
08 Intervention tracking
09 Evidence of what changed
10 Recommendations for what merits wider testing
06 / BEYOND THE FIRST 10
The journey from 10 schools to sustained capability
The first phase builds the evidence. The next phase builds the capability.
Research & Evidence
Research partners help shape:
Traction Partners
Foundations & Development Partners
Funding, specialist programmes, implementation capability
Businesses & Employers
Technology, equipment, infrastructure, expertise, pathways
Universities & Research Institutions
Research, evaluation, CPD, specialist knowledge
Education & Technology Organisations
Software, assessment, professional development, school-improvement capability
Community & Specialist Organisations
Wellbeing, inclusion, safeguarding, family engagement and local capability
The need comes first. The partner follows.
LocaeHubs & Lead Schools
Where evidence supports the model, founding schools can help form Lead School or LocaeHub networks so that implementation learning, strong practice and local capability can move between schools.
07 / WHY THIS MATTERS TO THE MINISTRY NOW
Senior School implementation has begun
Real implementation evidence now exists
Substantial Government investment is already flowing
Future cohorts can benefit from early learning
Implementation Visibility
Where CBE implementation is strong, where it varies and why.
Strong-Practice Intelligence
Which conditions are enabling stronger implementation.
Barrier Intelligence
Which challenges recur and what is driving them.
Resource Intelligence
Which organisations, funding, technology and expertise already exist.
Better Resource Matching
Directing existing capability toward evidenced need.
Research & Evidence
Understanding which responses work, where and under what conditions.
School-to-School Capability
Helping successful practice move between schools.
Additional Resource Mobilisation
Bringing foundations, businesses, universities and other partners around Government priorities.
Implementation Continuity
Building capability inside Kenyan schools and institutions.
Evidence for the Next Decision
Clearer grounds for deciding what to sustain, adapt, expand or stop.
The value is a faster route from
One Big Change can help Government make existing education investment work harder while mobilising additional expertise, research, technology and partner resources around evidenced need.
08 / WHY ONE BIG CHANGE
Education, Schools & Research
200+ UK school network
School-improvement pilots and programme development
Canterbury Christ Church University
King's College London
University of Greenwich
University of Northampton
Harris Federation
UK schools and education organisations
Local authority / council relationships
Innovation, Technology & Scale
Innovate UK
Barclays Eagle Labs Product Builder
Grow London Global
London & Partners
SETsquared Scale-Up
NatWest Accelerator
EDUCATE
Sunderland Software City
Kenya Leadership & Developing Relationships
Dr Ben Chumo
Chair, One Big Change Kenya Advisory Committee
Benjamin Sogomo
Education and institutional adviser / contributor to programme development
Dr Teresa Ngigi
Technical discussions around wellbeing, safeguarding, implementation and capacity sustainability
Aga Khan Education Service, Kenya
Direct discussions with Salman Rajani, CEO, around CBE implementation, school improvement, teacher development and potential collaboration on the Kenyan founding phase
Existing and developing university relationships include University of Greenwich, University of Northampton, King's College London and Canterbury Christ Church University. Research participation in the Kenya founding phase will be confirmed during technical design.
09 / THE MODEL & THE REQUEST
Government sets the direction.
Change Lens creates the implementation intelligence.
One Big Change coordinates the response.
Research shows what works.
Traction Partners add capability and resources.
LocaeHubs help the learning travel.
Our immediate request is a 30-minute online meeting with you and, where appropriate, relevant members of your technical team.
The purpose is to test this proposition against the Ministry's priorities, understand which implementation questions matter most to you, and determine whether a small founding phase could generate useful evidence and practical value.
Together, we would like to explore five questions:
01 Which CBE implementation KPIs matter most to the Ministry now?
02 What does the Ministry believe is already working particularly well and should be understood and replicated?
03 Where would deeper school-level implementation insight be most useful?
04 Could a 10-school founding implementation cohort and Change Lens proof of concept complement the systems, programmes and evidence already in place?
05 Who should work with us to shape the Kenyan methodology, measures and school selection before implementation begins?
Subject to alignment, the next stage would be a short technical design phase to agree: priority KPIs, evidence requirements, school-selection methodology, governance and safeguarding, implementation parameters, timetable.
Kenya has already set the direction and committed substantial resources to CBE.
The next advantage will come from learning faster from implementation.
A 30-minute conversation with your office could determine whether this approach can help turn the evidence already emerging from schools into faster, more targeted implementation improvement for the cohorts that follow.
We would welcome the opportunity to explore that with you.
Yours sincerely,
Yvonne Buluma-Samba
Founder & Framework Director
LocaeRise | One Big Change Kenya
ybuluma@locaerise.com | onebigchange.info
Sources
Ministry of Education
education.go.ke
Teacher recruitment, CBE retooling, capitation and digital deployment figures
National Treasury
treasury.go.ke
FY2026/27 education-sector allocation
Parliament of Kenya
parliament.go.ke
Budget estimates and sector approvals
KICD
kicd.ac.ke
Curriculum design and competency framework
KNEC
knec.ac.ke
Assessment and transition data
World Bank (KPEEL)
worldbank.org
IDA credit and refugee-window grant