KEPSHA Chair Nzioka laid to rest, praised as CBC hero

The late Kenya Primary School Heads Association chairperson Johnson Nzioka was laid to rest Friday in Machakos County.

He was hailed as a distinguished professional in the education sector who played a key role in the implementation of the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC).

Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang, who addressed mourners at Kasolongo village in Mwala, said Nzioka "left a mark in Kenya's education transition through his passionate involvement in driving the CBC agenda".

"We sincerely appreciate his immense contribution in the presidential working party in domiciling our junior schools in primary schools. I thank him even more because when everybody was worried about transition of Grade Eight to Grade Nine, he was able to work with headteachers to ensure the learners were settled in primary schools.

"I can affirm that Nzioka did his part as a teacher and when we lost him, we lost an opportunity as a country to tap into his contribution to supporting the sector," Dr Kipsang said.

Kenya National Union of Teachers Secretary General Collins Oyuu eulogised Nzioka as a leader who brought sanity and harmony between teachers and the Union.

"Nzioka brought cooperation between teachers and Knut and stopped the animosity that existed between headteachers and the giant union" he said.

Born in 1965 in Kasolongo village in Mwala, Nzioka joined Masii Boys High School in 1980 before joining Migori Teachers Training College where he completed his studies in 1987.

He thereafter acquired a diploma in education management from the Kenya Education Management Institute before pursuing a degree in Education in 2017.

He served as a member of Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development and the National Examinations Appeals Tribunal.

He leaves behind a widow, Ruth Kyengo and two children.