By Eddah Waithaka
The Java Foundation has thrown down the gauntlet to Kenya’s corporate sector: invest in the soft skills and leadership of young learners now, or watch future employees falter in the workplace.
The Foundation argues that the academic knowledge children gain in classrooms must march in lockstep with the confidence, values, and responsibility that employers will ultimately judge them on.
The call came Tuesday as the Foundation unveiled its Kuza Mentorship Manual at Dagoretti North School. The Kenya Institute for Curriculum Development (KICD) has officially approved the guide, which targets mentors working with learners in Grades 6 to 9.
Bridging the boardroom and the classroom
Priscilla Gathungu, Group CEO of Java House, addressed the gathering and stressed that collaboration between employers and schools is no longer optional, it is essential.
“Schools are doing a great job imparting knowledge, and they are doing it under enormous pressure. We cannot expect them to prepare our children for the future without help,” said Gathungu.
She pointed directly to the untapped resource sitting in corporate offices.
“Corporates hold a wealth of knowledge earned over years of trial and error, and there is no reason for it to stay in our boardrooms. What the Kuza Mentorship Manual does is create a framework for passing valuable knowledge down so that anyone mentoring young minds knows what to cover, how to cover it, and what the learner should walk out with,” she added.
A proven programme gets a structured boost
The manual builds on the successes of the Java Foundation’s existing Kuza Mentorship Programme, which already equips students with practical life skills while expanding their access to career, leadership, and talent development opportunities.
The new KICD-approved guide now gives mentors a standardized, curriculum-aligned roadmap, ensuring consistency and quality across every session.
Beyond mentorship: feeding minds and bodies
The Kuza initiative runs alongside the Foundation’s broader community investments. In partnership with Food For Education, Java Foundation provides daily hot, nutritious lunches to more than 3,000 schoolchildren including pupils at Dagoretti North School, Ngunyumu School in Korogocho, and Kibos School for the Blind in Kisumu.
With the manual now in hand, the Foundation is challenging other companies to step up and mentor the next generation, before the classroom door closes and the office door opens.
