By Caroline Boyani
While the world celebrates international day of the African child with objectives to
provide education for all, the Kenyan child coming from a low-income home is uncertain
of his/her future in terms of education.
This year’s theme "Education for all Children in Africa: The time is now" was advocating
for the need of every child accessing quality education. This comes after the
government proposing slashes on the Education ministry while there are children in
areas like West Pokot and Garrisa that are unable to attend classes due to interethnic
clashes and insecurity.
Their education has been jeopardized and some schools lack social amenities such as
toilets and sufficient desks. The situation in some public schools is saddening,
unfinished classes, broken windows and insufficient writing and teaching materials. One
parent in Nairobi complained of unrecorded money that she was asked to pay before
admitting her child into one of the public schools. " I was asked for fifteen thousand
without an explanation and it was to be paid in cash, no records." She lamented.
In a country that is not prioritizing education for her children, their future may be bleak.
Continuous strikes by teachers, lack of support and insecurity might hinder students
from concentrating and making something for their lives. We boast of being one of the
African countries that offer free primary and secondary Education yet students are sent
home often for school fees.
Reducing NG-CDF and HELB allocation will hinder students from low-income families
from completing their studies. Despite the government introducing competency reforms
to the education system, they should be able to finance it Instead of burdening parents.
Through collaborative effort they should be able to introduce training for teachers in how
to counter radicalization and extremism attacks so that children are brought up in a
holistic way. Additionally, the government should support co-curricular activities to
nurture talents and improve skills for the children. Unless they come up with strategic
plans, education for all children will remain to be a path never taken.
