Prof. Fatuma N. Chege

Prof. Fatuma N. Chege, (PhD), FCCS, is the Principal Secretary, State Department for Implementation of Curriculum Reforms that was established on 9^th February 2021, under the Ministry of Education. She was appointed on 9^th May 2021.

Prof. Chege is a Professor of Education and holds a doctoral degree in Gender and Education from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. She also holds a Master of Arts (Education) from Kenyatta University (KU), Bachelor of Education (KU) and Diploma of Education (UoN).

Prior to her appointment in the Ministry of Education, Prof. Chege was the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration), Kenyatta University (KU) and a member of Joint Negotiations Committee (JNC) of the Inter-Public Universities Consulate Forum (IPUCCF) of the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) for which she is a trained negotiator.

Between July 2017 and May 2021, Prof. Chege was the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Kenya School of Law and for six (6) years, she was the Dean, School of Education, KU (2011-2017). She also served as Deputy Director of the KU Institute of Research, Science and Technology (2008 to 2010); Chairperson of the Kenya Education Staff Institute (2005-2008) and was the Chairperson, Department of Educational Foundations, Kenyatta University Between 2003 and 2007.

Prof. Chege has considerable teaching experience at University level where she began as Graduate Assistant in the Department of Educational Foundations and rose through the ranks to the position of Full Professor of Education. She taught philosophy and sociology of education, gender and education, as well as qualitative research methods at both undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition, she is a professionally trained teacher whose teaching experience spans various levels of the education sector including primary, secondary and teacher training.

As a University scholar, Prof. Chege has been a successful lead researcher in local and international collaborative projects many of which informed community uptake to enhance social well-being. She established many institutional linkages globally and conducted extensive research in Kenya and the Eastern and Southern African Region focusing on various themes in education that include schooling and the construction of gender identities and sexuality; education and violence against children; sexual harassment and gender-based violence in schools, as well as interdisciplinary research on education and poverty. She has presented her work in many learned conferences and published widely in refereed journals, books and book chapters, focusing on her areas of specialization and interest in education.

With regard to community service, Prof. Chege was Chairperson of the Taskforce on Enhancing Access, Relevance, Transition, Equity and Quality for Effective Curriculum Reforms Implementation between June 2019 and December 2020. She spearheaded the establishment of a secondary school in a poor rural community and served in several secondary school boards of management. In addition, Prof. Chege has mentored many young scholars and researchers as well as provided financial support for secondary and tertiary education to many children from various Kenyan counties. She is a co-founder member of the Women Education Researchers of Kenya (WERK) and serves in various professional bodies.

Prof. Chege has received various awards that include: The KU Vice Chancellor’s Extra Mile Award; The KU Vice Chancellor’s Research Award; Africa Academy of Sciences (AAS) Proposal Writing Award; Aga Khan International Scholarship Award; Dulverton Trust U.K. Award; Cambridge Commonwealth Trust.