Kenyan Found His Purpose as an Educator in Jamaica

A native of Kenya, in Africa, Isaac Onywere never imagined that his life’s purpose would unfold in classrooms in Jamaica, shaping minds and building systems that have transformed how technology is taught on the island.

But, if you ask him how he became an educator, he will tell you plainly that teaching found him.

For his Service to Education, Mr. Onywere received the Prime Minister’s Medal of Appreciation for 2024, marking a crowning moment in a remarkable journey that began far from Jamaican shores.

The award was presented by Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, at Jamaica House on May 28.

In 1988, Mr. Onywere came to Jamaica to study Management at West Indies College (now Northern Caribbean University), an unplanned trajectory that the educator has come to accept as his destiny.

“I was supposed to study in India but my father said, ‘You’re going to Jamaica’. He never explained why, but I’m glad he did. I ended up exactly where I needed to be,” he recalls.

With all intentions to be a gamechanger, Mr. Onywere completed his studies and set out to secure employment in management, but instead he landed a teaching post at Charlemont High School in St. Catherine, in 1991.

This unexpected beginning has grown into a 34-year legacy of service, innovation, and mentorship.

From Charlemont to Hampton School in St. Elizabeth and eventually to Bethlehem Moravian College in the parish, Mr. Onywere’s impact has deepened.

At the Bethlehem, where he now serves as Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, he has helped to pioneer Jamaica’s first curriculum for training computer science teachers. This programme has laid the groundwork for what is now a national standard.

He has also played a pivotal role in developing a bachelor’s programme in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI), along with new initiatives in cybersecurity and agricultural AI.

“I started as an economics teacher but I evolved into a computer science educator because I saw the need, and I kept upgrading myself,” he tells JIS News.

Mr. Onywere speaks with quiet conviction about training colleagues and students in basic tech skills, often starting from scratch with adults who had never touched a computer mouse.

“Today, it seems automatic but back then, teaching someone how to double-click was a big deal,” he reflects.

Beyond technical training, Mr. Onywere’s influence radiates through his mentorship of classroom teachers and his outreach to young people on digital literacy and responsible technology use.

He regularly visits schools and communities to educate students about the dangers of misusing social media and the permanence of their digital footprints.

His international perspective has given him unique insight into Jamaica’s education system.

One of his strongest convictions is the need to embrace Jamaica’s cultural and linguistic identity in the classroom.

“We tell students to ‘speak properly’ without first validating the language they already know – patois. If you use patois to explain concepts, then show how to translate that into English, students learn better. That’s what works,” Mr. Onywere shares.

He sees progress in government support for AI integration in schools and hopes that educators will continue to innovate, just as he has for more than three decades.

Despite limited resources, especially in technology, Mr. Onywere has always found a way forward.

“In Jamaica, we learn to teach with what we have until better comes. You can’t hold back a generation waiting for perfect conditions,” he tells JIS News.

Now approaching the twilight of his formal teaching career, Mr. Onywere remains focused on his legacy of developing relevant, forward-thinking curricula and inspiring others to believe in the transformative power of education.