Dr Christine Owinyi

Bold Question: What if learning institutions taught learners to care for themselves, others and the planet?

Path to Metis: Working towards becoming the next Cabinet Secretary of Education in Kenya with great ambition and willpower is Dr.Christine Owinyi; a simple and down to earth facilitator who is passionate about having every learning institution become a centre for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

She stems from the classroom as a teacher of English and Literature in English as an employee of the Teachers’ Service Commission before she joined KEMI in May 2015. As a high school teacher, she rose into the position of Deputy headteacher after serving as a class teacher, a patron in guidance and counselling, Music, Dance and Drama, Journalism and Debating. As a teacher, she was always in trouble with the administrators because of her outgoing personality.

She stood for what she believed was right and spoke for the learner. Her argument that every learner is unique and has potential to excel in different areas did not sit well with her colleagues and this forced her to want to look for greener pastures by furthering her studies from Bachelors to Masters and further to Doctorate.

Christine founded the establishment of ESD model Centres in Kenya while functioning as the in-charge of ESD at Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI) where she serves as a National Learning Facilitator. She is a serious advocate of the Competency-Based Curriculum arguing that it resonates with what ESD is all about.

She is currently working on a Pick-Up Trash Campaign which she believes will drive in acceptable virtues and values such as love, responsibility, integrity among others for all Kenyans to learn how to care for themselves, others and the planet. This she says was inculcated in her after undergoing a Course on ESD in Israel by the METC Ofri Centre- MASHAV.

After landing on her current position, she met a network of visionary educators with like minds while going about her professional duties. In one of her learning sessions organized by the British Council in Kenya, she met Dr. Antony Maina Wa Gioko who invited her to attend the first graduation ceremony for Metis fellows in Kibera Kenya. Her experience during the session grew her desire to want to belong to the Metis fellowship.

Having applied for previous cohorts unsuccessfully, Dr.Christine joins Metis as a Cohort 4 fellow; a feat she takes a lot of pride in as it is a show of her resilience and persistence.

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