Can Education Achieve Social Cohesion? Challenges for Kenya’s Education Sector in Attaining the Social Pillar of Vision 2030

Abstract

Education is considered critical in the development of a nation towing to its role of transmitting knowledge, skills and competencies. The question of whether education can promote social cohesion has and continues to be debated all over the world. The UNESCO commission (1996), identified one of the critical pillars of education for the 21 st Century as ̳Learning to live together.‘ Indeed the demand to achieve this has been heightened by globalization, which has rendered spatial boundaries void. In Kenya, the quest for social cohesion is bedevilled by political gimmicks that perpetuate ethnocentrism and often times lead to civil strife as was evident during the post-election violence (PEV) in 2007. As a result of this, the National Cohesion and Integration Act of 2008 was passed as part of Agenda IV reforms under the National Accord Reform Agenda. This led to the formation of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) whose mandate is to facilitate and promote equality of opportunity, good relations, harmony and peaceful coexistence between persons of different ethnic and racial backgrounds in Kenya and to advice the government thereof. This paper explores the role education can play in building social cohesion, especially in the period after PEV. Using personal experiences as an educator, I shall challenge the status quo in an attempt to chart the way forward for educators to contemplate as they strive to achieve national cohesion, which is a prerequisite to the attainment of Vision 2030.