ACTIVITIES OF THE FRENCH SECTION IN THE SCHOOL OF LAW AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

ACTIVITIES OF THE FRENCH SECTION IN THE SCHOOL OF LAW AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

I. AUF PROJECTS AT KU

KU became a member of the AUF after successful application in December 2010. Below are some of the projects that KU has benefitted from as a member of the AUF

• The establishment of the Digital Campus (CNFP) that was launched in February 2016 by the then Regional Director AUF, Mr. Phillipe Bataille.
• Training in online research for MA students
• Participation of KU in different activities: Inter university debate in French
• Participation of KU in the implementation of the AUF strategic plan through its representation in the Regional Commission of Experts (CRE)
• Participation of KU in the regional graduate school through membership to the Scientific Committee
• Establishment of an AUF National Office in Kenya (at KU) – awaiting the signing of a hosting agreement with the government of Kenya.
• A student from KU, Japheth Odhiambo Walori (4^th year), will be attending a francophone students’ festival in Montenegro sponsored by the AUF. The festival will run from 4^th to 8^th September 2023.

New projects

• The creation of an Employability Center for capacity building of students in preparation for careers in French
• For the last nine months, I have gone through training on the running of the said Francophone Employability Centre

The AUF National Office

Concerning the National Office, a draft general agreement is under discussion at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, having been passed on from the Ministry of Education. The signing of this agreement will enable the AUF to have a legal presence in Kenya and for KU to run both the National Office and the Francophone Employment Centre.

The Francophone Employability Centre

As we wait for the signing of the Hosting Agreement, we have been advised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to launch activities so that our students will begin to benefit from the training. We intend to start these sessions once students report for the new academic year 2023/2024. Table 1  below shows examples of activities to be offered by the Centre.

Table 1: Examples of activities to be offered at the FEC.

*Other activities will be introduced as we partner with possible employers.     

Remarks :

• The number of participants per session will be determined mainly by the nature of the activity. The most interactive sessions will obviously be more restrictive than conferences or information sessions. It is generally recommended that the workshops have a maximum of 15 to 20 people for the former, whereas for the latter the only limit is the capacity of the space.
• The duration of the sessions should be defined according to their content (the nature of the activity), their schedule (e.g. sessions scheduled at the end of the day cannot be very long given the saturation of the students and the logistical and security constraints) and the particularity of the event (if a company director or successful entrepreneur is invited, we will try to make the most of his or her presence: sufficient speaking time, interaction with the students, etc.)

II. THE CENTRE FOR FRENCH TEACHING AND DOCUMENTATION (CFTD).

This center was launched in April 2019 after being established in August 2018 through sponsorship from the French Embassy in Nairobi. The objective of the Centre is to build capacity of teachers of French in Kenya. With the reforms in the system of education coming into effect, the capacity building will be extended to the teachers of French in primary schools. Since its establishment, the following activities have been undertaken:

1. Training of trainers

In order to facilitate the training workshops effectively, the French government sponsored the training of trainers for both physical and online sessions. To date, 24 trainers have been trained.

2. Capacity building of secondary school teachers of French

Since 2018, more than 350 teachers have been in serviced in different modules including: Games in the language class; Activities to improve oral expression; Activities to improve written expression; Activities to improve oral comprehension

3. Capacity building of primary teachers of French

In January 2023, the Centre organized a workshop for primary school teachers, supervised by a trainer of trainers from Reunion under the Inter-Regional Project (INTERREG).

4. The DEFIK project

This project aims to reinforce the teaching of French in Kenya with funding from the French Embassy and the Inter regional project sponsored by the European Union. The CFTD is already benefitting from this through the creation of a platform which will provide online resources for teachers of French in Kenya. This, together with in person and online workshops will go a long way in supporting the government’s agenda of offering French as one of the four foreign languages from primary to university.

5. Future plans for sustainability

The CFTD plans to establish itself as a Centre for the region and not limit itself to Kenya. With the membership of francophone countries in the EAC, Kenyatta University can position itself as an important point of reference for the teaching of French in East and Southern Africa.

III. THE LANGUAGE ASSISTANTS PROGRAMME

Since 2019, Kenyatta University students studying French (mainly in 3^rd year), have had the opportunity to go and teach English in France under the Language Assistants Programme. This programme runs for an academic year and has seen some of the students secure opportunities for further studies and even employment in France. For those who have come back, the exposure has been of great importance. Not only have they improved their level of French, they have greatly improved their chances of working as bilinguals in future.