Education in Kenya

The Community Health Dept is addressing the AIDS problem not only through treatment, but also through prevention.  A pilot education program is sending Jill, from Seattle,  and James, from Maua, both registered nurses, into area schools to present classes on reproductive health and prevention of HIV/AIDS.  I had the chance to accompany them into six different schools and to observe both the prevention classes and also the schools themselves. Even though we were there for these special presentations in the six secondary and primary schools we visited, I was able to observe some vast differences between Kenyan public schools and our schools in the US.


Fifty to sixty students fill a classroom in Kenya’s primary schools and students sit three to a desk. Students learn by rote (which I believe stifles creative thinking) and learn basic reading and writing skills. They will also learn English, which, when added to their mother tongue of Kemeru and Swahili will make them tri-lingual.  Students at both primary and secondary level are very quiet, well disciplined, and sit still, even in an auditorium, outdoors on the lawn, or in a regular classroom. The classrooms seem difficult to work in: blackboards are so old it is difficult to read the writing; there was no electric light in one dim room, and classroom supplies are scarce.

Schools in Kenya are not really free.  Primary students must pay $33.00 and secondary students at day schools, $44.00 - $55.00 per year.  Those students in secondary boarding schools pay $250.00. In addition, students must pay for their uniforms and some school supplies.  As a result, many children are not in school because their families cannot afford the fees.

Teachers require three years of higher education at a teachers college to be certified, but schools in hard-to-serve areas sometimes hire an uncertified teacher with only a high school diploma. A projected teacher shortage shows that 71,000 additional teachers will be needed by 2012.  Teachers earn $88.00 – $150.00 a month while an uncertified teacher might earn only $44.00 a month. The teachers union is working to increase pensions and “hardship” allowances for those teachers in hard-to-serve areas.

The literacy rate for Kenya is 70%, but in the Maua area it is only 35.9%. The government made an attempt in 2002 to offer primary education that was actually free, with no fees.  However they had to restore the fees within a year because the government just didn’t have the revenue to sustain free education.  The government still spends over half of its budget for public schools even though it doesn’t pay the full cost of education. 

 

A major scandal involving fraud and embezzlement of public school funding was recently reported.  A government investigation revealed that $42,000,000 of “free learning money” never reached the schools. Over 100 people, including top civil servants are involved.  As a result, the UK and other international donors have indicated they will withdraw their donations, then re-direct them through non-state channels. The Kenyan government vows to prosecute the offenders and recover the funding.