Dr. Sarah Roelker, an Icon of Change in Kenya

Icons of Change International Awards 2025
Dr. Sarah Roelker
Education Advisor, Comundo – St. Martin CSA (Kenya)
Former Advisor, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (Malawi)
Former Lecturer & Researcher, Paderborn & Osnabrück Universities (Germany)
Sustainable Development Goal 4 – Quality Education
Changemaker for Transformative and Inclusive Education (Kenya)
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For Dr. Sarah Roelker, education is not a neutral transaction—it is a force for dignity, peace, and empowerment. A German national whose academic foundation lies in curriculum studies and teacher training, Dr. Roelker has dedicated her career to bridging the gap between theory and practice in contexts where education is often fragmented, under-resourced, or disconnected from real-world needs. Since 2014, her professional path has taken her across continents, from Malawi to Kenya, embedding her expertise in classrooms, communities, and policy frameworks to advance Sustainable Development Goal 4 Quality Education.
Her career began in academia, as a lecturer and researcher at the Universities of Paderborn and Osnabrück in Germany. There, she conducted doctoral research on curriculum relevance in diverse contexts, including a deep case study in a Peruvian shantytown. This formative experience sharpened her conviction that education cannot be standardized to the point of irrelevance. Instead, it must be localized, contextual, and inclusive—designed to meet the actual needs of learners in their social, cultural, and economic environments. Her time in academia also honed her ability to translate complex theories into actionable frameworks, a skill that would later prove essential in her work in Africa.
From 2014 to 2021, Dr. Roelker worked in Malawi with GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), where she concentrated on teacher education and curriculum reform. Recognizing that the heart of education is the teacher, she helped design holistic standards for teacher training that emphasized reflective practice, professional identity, and empowerment. By equipping teachers to see themselves not merely as instructors but as leaders of change, she elevated the profession and enhanced its long-term impact on learners. Her contributions helped establish a curriculum for teacher education that balanced knowledge delivery with the cultivation of self-awareness, empathy, and pedagogical innovation.
In 2021, she shifted her focus to Kenya, where she partnered with Comundo and St. Martin CSA, a community-based organization dedicated to social transformation. There, she tackled one of Kenya’s most pressing education challenges the implementation of Competency-Based Education (CBE). Though introduced nationally in 2017, CBE remained largely theoretical, with many schools and vocational institutions continuing to rely on outdated, exam-centered methods. Dr. Roelker saw the urgency of this gap. She recognized that CBE, when implemented properly, equips students with critical life skills—entrepreneurship, problem-solving, teamwork, and adaptability—that directly connect education to employability and community resilience.
Her response was multifaceted. First, she designed and delivered training programs for teachers and vocational trainers, demystifying CBE and showing educators how to shift from rote memorization to experiential, learner-centered instruction. She used practical workshops, coaching sessions, and collaborative exercises to build teacher confidence and capacity, ensuring they could integrate CBE principles in their daily practice.
Second, she developed manuals and resources that gave educators and youth tangible roadmaps. The Facilitator’s Manual on Youth Employability and Entrepreneurship Skills has empowered young people to take charge of their futures by providing tools for job readiness, small business creation, and resilience in volatile labor markets. Similarly, the Peace Education Manual she co-created directly addresses the needs of communities scarred by ethnic violence, helping teachers develop dialogue, empathy, and conflict resolution skills in the classroom. These manuals are now in active use, multiplying her influence far beyond the schools where she personally trains.
Third, she understood that systemic change requires more than strong classrooms—it requires strong policies. To that end, Dr. Roelker spearheaded the drafting of a county-level vocational training policy that emphasizes quality, relevance, and alignment with Kenya’s broader development goals. This policy, created in collaboration with local government and academic institutions, has already been adopted at the county level and is moving toward legal ratification. Its implementation will institutionalize CBE and ensure that vocational training remains dynamic, inclusive, and linked to labor market realities.
Beyond Kenya and Malawi, Dr. Roelker has continuously worked to foster networks and platforms for collaboration. She established a network of educators and stakeholders dedicated to advancing CBE, facilitating the exchange of best practices and cross-pollination of ideas. She has also trained vocational trainees in entrepreneurship, enabling them not only to find employment but also to generate employment—an essential shift in regions where job scarcity fuels cycles of poverty and instability.
What distinguishes Dr. Roelker’s work is her ability to combine academic rigor, grassroots engagement, and policy advocacy into a seamless whole. She is as comfortable facilitating workshops in rural schools as she is drafting policy papers or delivering lectures at universities. This rare versatility allows her to operate across the full spectrum of education systems, ensuring that reforms are not only piloted but embedded sustainably at every level.
Her guiding philosophy is simple yet profound quality education must prepare learners for life, not just for exams. To her, education is a pathway to dignity, peace, and opportunity—especially in contexts marked by poverty, conflict, and social exclusion. She has proven that when teachers are empowered, curricula are relevant, and policies are forward-looking, education becomes a transformative force capable of breaking cycles of inequality and building cohesive societies.
In honoring Dr. Sarah Roelker with the Icons of Change International Award 2025, we recognize a changemaker whose life’s work embodies SDG 4. She has redefined what quality education means in practice, ensuring it is inclusive, holistic, and deeply connected to community realities. Her legacy is visible in empowered teachers, hopeful youth, innovative curricula, and progressive policies across two continents.
Dr. Roelker’s journey is a testament to the power of education when it is anchored in compassion, relevance, and vision. She reminds us that every classroom can be a catalyst for peace, every teacher a driver of transformation, and every learner a bearer of dignity and hope.
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