5 September 2007
Nairobi — The fishmonger, who specialises in Mgongo Wazi (filletless fish bones) at Kisumu's Koginga Beach, says she cannot afford to send her five children to school.
"Employing adults is too costly. Besides, where do I get the money to buy school uniforms and for bus fare?" she asks.
Scenes of children airing mosquito nets, used as fishing nets, in preparation for night fishing expeditions are common along the beaches of Lake Victoria.
Many of them are from child-headed homes or caregivers to bed-ridden parents living with Aids. Nyanza has a HIV prevalence of 14 per cent compared to the national figure of six per cent. According to recent Government statistics, 65 per cent of residents live below the poverty line.
Maseno University Vice-Chancellor, Prof Frederick Onyango, says the province has the highest number of orphans and vulnerable children in the country. In Kisumu school dropouts pass time at Dunga Beach on the shores of Lake Victoria washing cars at Sh50 per vehicle.
At Koginga Beach in Homa Bay District pupils and students sell Mgongo Wazi at Sh7 per frame.
Some join the trade to raise money for uniforms but they never return to class. They are among the 700,000 children countrywide who are out of school because their parents are too poor to afford food and uniform.
Although the Government has spent over Sh36 billion on free primary education, with Sh21.1 million spent on learning and teaching materials, overcrowding and teacher shortages continue to impede enrolment, retention of students and quality of education.
Many public primary schools can hardly cope with the large number of pupils following the introduction of free primary education.
Conflict zones worst hit
In addition to poverty, insecurity, child prostitution, child labour and HIV continue to erode the gains of FPE. Today, Kenya Certificate of Primary Education and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education candidates in Mt Elgon, Turkana South and Marakwet districts fear that they may not sit the national exams due to insecurity.
In conflict-torn Mt Elgon, 5,000 pupils and students have been forced to drop out of school after they were displaced from their homes.
Mt Elgon Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) branch executive secretary, Mr Willy Songi Masai, says most of the 1,500 teachers posted to the district fled leading to chronic staff shortages.
"About five teachers have been killed in the clashes and students caught up in the violence," he says.
Schools in Kopsiro and Cheptais divisions were worst hit. "A majority of schools in Kopsiro were closed down whereas in Cheptais they have experienced a drastic drop in teacher and student numbers. Knut has advised them to keep off until the situation improves as the police cannot guarantee their security," says Masai.
"How can candidates sit exams in such an environment?" he adds.
Mt Elgon District Deputy Education Officer, Mr Philip Chumo, says most candidates fled with their parents after registering for exams.
"Two students from a private academy were shot dead and Kapsokwony High School situated at the district headquarters was invaded by a gang, forcing the school to close prematurely" he says.
Also closed are Banantega, Kubra, Kebee, Chepkurukur, Kabukwo, Kapchebuk, Kapkesem, Kaboriot, Chepkaria and Kapkenyo primary schools. Students say they cannot concentrate on their studies as gunshots rent the air almost every night.
During the attack at Kapsokwany the raiders threatened to kidnap students and recruit them into the Sabaot Land Defence Force.
Reverend Maritim arap Rirei, the head of Development Awareness Programme in Eldoret and Kitale dioceses of the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK), wants the Government to act fast. "The situation in Mt Elgon is pathetic," he says.
He is particularly disturbed by reports that some students fled to Uganda as refugees. "The ACK and other humanitarian organisation can only offer relief supplies," he says.
The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) country representative, Mr Heimo Laakkonen, pledged Sh28 million to assist displaced school children and women while on a tour of the district three months ago. He said Unicef would support 5,000 students with learning materials and provide 100 desks.
Rising cases of cattle rustling in Turkana South have reduced residents into paupers. An educationist, Mr Josphat Nanok, says five schools have been closed down due to raids by bandits. They include Loperot, Lomelo, Nakukulas, Lokwamosin and Loyapat primary schools.
With 104 primary schools, the district has a teacher-student ratio of 1: 300.
The situation is much the same in Marakwet District where five primary schools - Chesetan, Kiyebo, Tuyo, Luget and Ngenyilel - were forced to relocate due to insecurity.
Mr James Cheboi Kimisoi, an official with the Catholic Peace Commission, says the abandoned schools have been turned into grazing farms for animals.
A Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) Peace Building and Conflict Transformation advisor, Ms Seline Korir, says the situation is worrying.
She appeals to the Government to assist students who have failed to register for this year's KCSE and KCPE exams due to insecurity. Recently the Education ministry Permanent Secretary, Prof Karega Mutahi, released a circular asking students who had dropped out of school due to insecurity to return.
Students selling illicit brews
From Central to Coast provinces child labour is keeping thousands of school age children out of school.
Hundreds of boys in Murang'a North and South districts spend their time harvesting and picking coffee, quarry mining and engaging in Mungiki sect activities.
Girls drop out owing to early marriage and teenage pregnancy.
A teacher in Murang'a town recounted the tragedy of girl whose mother would order her to serve chang'aa (illicit brew) to customers in their house, disrupting her studies.
Several primary schools do not admit circumcised boys arguing that they bully female teachers and disobey rules at will.
During a recent stakeholders meeting, in Murang'a North chaired by district commissioner, Mr Kenneth Lusaka, teachers cited rampant theft of textbooks, political interference and Mungiki sect activities as some of the factors hindering free primary education in Kahuro division.
Over the years the African Network for Prevention Against Child Abuse has rescued children from child labour in Bondo, Busia, Homa-Bay, Kericho, Betere-Mumias, Murang'a North, Murang'a South, Suba and Siaya districts.
Child prostitution poses another challenge.
According to a recent Unicef and Government study, between 2,000 to 3,000 children engage in sex tourism in Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale and Malindi districts.
Many of them are trafficked to the province from upcountry.
Grinding poverty has forced children to drop out of school to become prostitutes and labourers at salt mines in Gongoni and Malindi districts. In one case a parent used to beat up his daughter for sneaking out to nightspots in Malindi but once she hooked up with a tourist who built them a nice house with electricity and piped water, they turned a blind eye. The girl's young sister also became a prostitute.
Parents undermine teachers
In Kwale, Kilifi and Malindi districts girls as young as 10 are married off to older men.
Recently, a parent in Kilifi was jailed for two months for not sending his son to school. His son, a Standard Six dropout, was found working in a quarry.
Other children hawk ice, groundnuts, bananas, mangoes and cashewnuts or do domestic work or herd cattle.
Recently, the Coast Provincial Director of Education, Mrs Connie Mogaka, said the Government is carrying out campaigns targeting parents on the importance of education. Last year, tourist hotels in the region signed a code of conduct to protect children from sexual exploitation.
"For a long time, district education officers and chiefs were kept in the periphery of education matters but they have been very helpful since the inception of free primary education," says Mrs Miriam Mwirotsi, the Director of Education, Planning and Policy in the Education ministry.
She says where child labour is rife like in flower farms in Naivasha and around Lake Victoria the Education ministry works with the officers to ensure students and pupils return to school. She says the officers are charged with monitoring the progress of education in their areas.
Two months ago, a parent in Malindi was fined Sh7,000 for keeping his child away from school. According to the law the parent could have been fined Sh50,000 or sentenced to one in prison.
Recently, Rift Valley Provincial Commissioner, Mr Hassan Noor Hassan, said at least 25,000 children of school going age are out of school in Samburu and Laikipia districts, and are engaging in criminal activities.
Hassan said the children are used to perpetrate cattle rustling.
Mwirotsi says despite many challenges, free primary education is a success. "Five million children have benefited from the initiative," she says.
She says the unequal distribution of teachers cannot be undone overnight. "We respect the family unit. Moving a teacher from Nairobi to Mombasa may enhance education but create crises within families," she says.
Mwirotsi says while uniforms are a unifying factor and create a sense of belonging, no child is supposed to be sent home for lack of it.
She says the Government has done a lot towards achieving universal quality primary education but more needs to be done.
Teachers in Nyanza have called for the introduction of feeding programmes to attract and keep students in school.
- Isaiah Lucheli, Maithias Ringa, Harold Ayodo, Bob Weru, Boniface Gikandi and Lynesther Mureu
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