By Mary Akatch and Sisa Nyakundi

Braeside International School hosted the 3rd Cohort 1Million Teachers’ (1MT) graduation ceremony early this year in Lavington, Nairobi. The beautiful ceremony had 350 graduates from more than 42 counties in Kenya including and neighbouring Ethiopia and Tanzania in attendance.

This graduation followed the University of Embu’s 1st 1MT Black Belt graduation which had 302 graduates being awarded.

The Principal, Braeside Junior Section Ms. Gladys Wahinya welcomed the guests with her fluent and flawless unmatched English setting the tone for the event themed, ‘Enhancing Quality Education in the 21st Century’ depicting 1MT journey towards Quality Education and Gender Equality/Equity in the 21st Century. 

Daniel Juma, Chief guest and Executive Director of Global Peace Foundation applauded 1Million Teachers Program Founders and Facilitators for the great work they have done in revolutionising education in Africa. He touched on the best training practices used in Japan, Canada, and the US among others while urging graduates to put the knowledge and skills they acquired from the 1MT Blackbelt Program to become great teachers. He stressed the role of educators in instilling responsibility and discipline among the students touching the role of the government and other private institutions in ensuring Quality Education is achieved at all levels. 

Hakeem Subair, the CEO of 1MT congratulated and reassured the graduates that they would understand the purpose of the program as they continue with the life-long learning, a privilege extended to all Blackbelt graduates. He urged them to work within their space, inspire others while they get inspired.

The 1Million Teachers Co-Founder and COO Miss. Rizma Butt expressed her gratitude to the 1MT Coordinator for Kenya Ms. Harriet Sajeroh and her team for the great leadership and reminded the graduates that 1Million Teachers Blackbelt Program would soon integrate technical skills like AI in the classroom. She addressed the question for what next after graduation singling out HP Mentorship Program that soon 1MT will be calling for enrolment.

Debbie Odenyi, Girl Rising Kenya Programme coordinator appreciated 1MT program and congratulated graduands for successful completion of the Black Belt programme. She pointed out that the 1MT and Girl Rising partnership started three years ago and Girl Rising is keen on investing in teachers for they play a critical role in education. Girl Rising uses the power of storytelling to empower girls and is an inclusive program that involves boys too. Girl Rising creates a curriculum that involves making educational films, media content and resources for the learner, collaborates with grassroot organizations like 1MT to reach out to as many people as possible and activate by inspiring individuals, teachers, parents and leaders to understand that Education is a right and the greatest investment. Girl Rising is a flagship program in 1Million Teachers Black Belt course in partnership with Hewlett Packard (HP).

Prof Jane Chin from Queens University in Canada, pointed out the importance of the educational exchange program to the teacher candidates from Queen’s University with opportunity to learn about global education. Queen’s University saw the sustainability of 1MT model that relies on teachers as the experts, and gave it the support it needed. The teachers amazingly wrote the course content that was uploaded on the 1MT platform. Prof Jane encouraged teachers to lead in creating change in the society, connecting learners to their dreams and becoming game-changers in their communities. Queens University has committed to support teachers in research and data to create content.

The graduates were awarded certificates for their hard work and dedication. Each had a beautiful story to tell. The teachers were urged to put into practice what they had learned and enrol others into the program as a way of thanking the minds behind the 1Million Teachers Program.

The 1MT Kenyan leadership team were appreciated for showcasing great leadership, emotional intelligence, problem-solving, team building and management skills that has seen the program transform and become a game changer within a short period of time. The event was graced by the 1MT leadership and representatives from the Queens University Education department plus their education students, 1MT partners Girl Rising and Global Peace Foundation.