Current Educational Hurdles in Kenya
By Vicki Kritzell
Sometime ago, I reported to you
about an interview I saw with a
ten-year-old orphan girl from South
Africa. She was dressed in rags and liv-
ing in poverty, not knowing where her
next meal would come from. When
asked what she would wish for if she
could have anything in the world, her
face lit up as she quickly replied, “A
school uniform”; a ten-dollar item,
which would allow her to attend
school.
This little girl profoundly illus-
trates how difficult it is for a child in
such a poverty-stricken country to get
an education. This is true not only of
orphans, but also of children from fam-
ilies surviving at a bare subsistence
level in Kenya, where over 50% of the
population live below the poverty
level. I have been reading many of the
African newspapers since January 4,
trying to grasp what is occurring in this
educational quagmire.
Although the govern-
ment, in 2002, established
free primary education, it is
far from being free. The chil-
dren are required to purchase
uniforms, and many public
schools are illegally charging
special “fees” to enroll chil-
dren. Since the schools are so
overloaded with students,
they are being required to
purchase their own desks, at a
cost near $40 apiece. It doesn’t take a
mathematical genius to realize why
less than 42% of the children of Kenya
actually complete primary school.
Most families don’t earn enough to
send one child to school, much less
several. Add to that the burden of huge
numbers of orphans. One teacher re-
ported that in his school of 400, over
100 were orphans. Most children come
to school without having breakfast or
bringing a lunch. 40% of the popula-
tion of Kenya is under 14 years of age,
and the average life expectancy is only
47 years.
Many districts are so overloaded
that they simply have to turn the chil-
dren away. At the Kanjora Primary
School, five teachers tried to cope with
nine classes of over 500 pupils. This
story repeats itself throughout Kenya
and beyond. To further impact the
shortage of teachers, fewer children are
able to advance through the forms
(high school) to attend college. Ac-
cording to The East African Standard,
more than half of last year’s children
who passed the Kenya Certificate of
Primary Education examinations were
unable to find space in high school.
This means that out of the 657,457 eli-
gible, only 313,133 were able to join
school. The rest will be destined to a
life of relative illiteracy, in a country
that so desperately needs educated
workers.
Making the situation even more
dangerous is the unend-
ing progression of
AIDS, creating thou-
sands of new orphans
daily, and taking the
lives of young teachers
at an alarming rate.
With fewer able to
achieve advanced edu-
cation, little govern-
mental money to
construct new schools,
and more illiterate citizens, the future
seems very bleak.
Pastor Moses Nyamora recently
contacted Esther to inform her he was
having difficulty getting the children at
our new orphanage, Glory Children’s
Center, enrolled in schools. One of the
problems in this city of over three mil-
lion is that there are 1.6 million people
either living in slums or simply “squat-
ting” in the streets. Many of these are
displaced families from surrounding
countries, trying to escape tribal war-
fare. Thousands are street children.
There is an effort by several relief
organizations to try to educate these
children, which is overburdening an al-
ready taxed school system. When Pas-
tor Moses tried to enroll our children,
he was told there is no room. Space in
private schools can sometimes be
found, but is expensive. This is a situa-
tion we must work on immediately.
In January, we enrolled 107 chil-
dren in school from Hope for Children
Center. Eighty-five of these are pri-
mary, and 22 are in the forms. All of the
children who tested for high school
passed easily. In November, two boys
and two girls were our first to graduate
from high school. Our policy had been
to move them on as soon as they gradu-
ated to make room for younger chil-
dren, but we are allowing them to stay
there and work on the farm for room
and board until they can find positions.
It is very difficult to find work, and
many graduates end up selling bananas
on the street to try to make a living. We
want more for our children, and we can
use their help at the orphanage. We are
trying to work out a plan to help them
become self-sufficient soon. Any sug-
gestions in this area would certainly be
welcomed.
Two of our older boys have gradu-
ated from vocational schools, one as a
mechanic and the other as a driver. In a
recent report, Pastor said, “Education is
very much expensive and very demand-
ing. We need to support these children in
school because in Kenya, without educa-
tion, there is no job. The future is dark.
As the saying goes, ‘The roots of educa-
tion are bitter, but the fruits are sweet.’ I
thank you for the educational support
you give these children.”
This month, a Congolese refugee
has moved to the Center with her child.
She is a tailor and plans to train some of
the orphans in this trade. This will re-
quire the purchase of some additional
sewing machines. We plan to have her
keep the children’s uniforms and other
-4-
Although the
government,
in 2002,
established
free primary
education,
it is far
from being free.
