President Uhuru Kenyatta and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson engaged in friendly banter as classmates would during a virtual conversation, cheerfully mocking each other's mathematics skills.
During a virtual conversation with pupils of Westlands Primary School in Nairobi and Cleves Cross Primary School in England on Thursday, May 13, Uhuru was the first to tease over his performance on specific subjects.
Kenyatta opened the doors to the friendly debate stating that he excelled more in mathematics than Johnson.
“I actually passed my math unlike you, Boris,” the President teased with the UK PM responding, "I passed my math Uhuru."
Johnson added that his favorite subject was Ancient Latin and Greek, which was a very important subject.
"They are very crucial. They are the foundation of our understanding of the modern world," Prime Minister Boris noted, to an interjection by the President, who added, "not important as Swahili."
The two leaders were on virtual visits to Westlands Primary School in Nairobi, Kenya, and Cleves Cross Primary School in Ferryhill, England as part of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) initiative.
On digital technologies, President Kenyatta argued that Covid-19 had created an urgent need to bridge the digital divide by improving access to the internet and digital tools to ensure that all children in the world access quality education and continue to learn effectively even when crises such as Coronavirus strike.
“We have got to also really pick up on digital learning so that even when we are faced with crises like we are facing currently, all boys and girls can continue with their education from home," the President stated.
He stated that his administration was committed to ensuring every Kenyan child has access to quality education through the free basic education programme and the 100 percent transition from primary to secondary schools policy.
“First and foremost, it is important for every single child to have an opportunity to get quality education, and what we are doing here in Kenya is trying to ensure that we have made, for example, primary education completely free for all regardless of their backgrounds," President Kenyatta added.
Kenyatta congratulated Kenyan children and teachers for excellent performance in the national examinations despite the disruptions brought about by the Covid-19.
PM Boris Johnson reiterated his administration's commitment to the educational for all agenda saying through GPE, Kenya and the UK was targeting to get 88 million girls to access quality education.
"In some countries, girls are not getting the education they need and people aren’t treating girls the same as boys when it comes to education. They are not getting the same funding and attention," PM Johnson observed.
