Sorry state of infrastructure in Kenya’s primary schools - in the dailies

What happened to Sydney Mulama sounds like something out of an episode of television reality show 1,000 Ways To Die.

Mulama was a Form Two student at Chesamisi High School in Bungoma County, a lad with valid dreams; dreams that an education would have certainly opened doors for.

However, on the evening of August 5 2013, everything changed. What should have been a routine visit to the toilet turned into a tragedy when the pit latrine he was using collapsed, burying him inside. He was reported missing at bed time when he failed to show up for roll call.

The authorities found his body hours later and had to dig him up using machines. And just like that, his dreams were snuffed out like a candle in the wind.

Following the unfortunate incident, an assessment of the facilities at the school was carried out. District Education Officer for Kimilili, Elisha Omala, says that as per the public health officers’ recommendations, newer, sturdier latrines were put up, as well as a block of water closets.

TRICKY FOUNDATIONS

However, Kimilili District, and indeed the rest of Kenya, is not new to sinking toilets. Heavy rains, coupled with loose soils, make some areas tricky bases for foundations.

For instance, the same year Mulama died, three primary schools in Kimilili; Kibunde FYM Primary School, Kibingei RC Primary School and Namawanga Primary School, reported collapsed latrines. The only reason they did not make it to the news is that this time, there were no casualties involved.

Poor infrastructure in primary schools is a problem that the whole country is grappling with, although, admittedly, some counties suffer more than others. In January this year, students of Kimobo Primary School in Mount Elgon District were sent home after the school was closed down indefinitely due to health and safety concerns.

Public Health officials from the district labeled the school a hazard after discovering that it had only four latrines to serve the over 600 pupils. As a result, some pupils were forced to use the facilities in a nearby secondary school in a bid to avoid the impossible queues found at the latrines every break time.

When the Mwai Kibaki government rolled out the Free Primary Education programme in 2003, public schools faced an unprecedented surge in enrolment numbers. Children who had been previously locked out of school due to inability to pay fees now only had to walk to the nearest public primary school and start learning their ABCs. Besides, the government had made it a criminal offence for any parent to keep their child away from school.

In its zeal to provide education to the masses, the government glossed over one of the most obvious challenges that increased admission into schools would bring: infrastructure. Before the FPE, public primary schools barely had enough classrooms or toilets. After FPE, barely enough became grossly overstretched and congested.

In 2005, the government launched a five-year programme, the Kenya Education Sector Support Programme to outline and implement strategies that would guide infrastructure development in public primary schools, taking into account the bloated numbers and contextualizing the solutions to fit each school.

KESSP found that the biggest infrastructure challenges facing schools were inadequate classrooms, poor state of existing facilities such as toilets, limited number of primary schools and a discrepancy in needs per school. Data gleaned from the 2003 census revealed that there was a shortfall of 43,000 classrooms countrywide, and of the ones that were there, 32 per cent were found to be below standard. These figures, however, were thought to be on the conservative side.

To tackle these challenges, the government proposed a programme that would see 4,000 of the more needy schools in Kenya receive between Sh100,000 and Sh200,000 per year, depending on the enrolment numbers of the school. The funds would be geared towards infrastructure development. A further 970 schools would receive additional grants to construct 3,880 classrooms, 9,700 toilets and upgrade water supplies.

Also included in the larger KESSP plan was the proposal to construct 165 new primary schools based on priority needs in the country. (Efforts to reach ministry officials to shed light on how far the country has come since KESSP was launched were unsuccessful).

More than eight years after the launch of KESSP, the reality on the ground, however, indicates that infrastructure remains a headache for learning institutions. And the Kenya Primary School Head Teachers Association chairman, Joseph Karuga, is worried:

“Forget inadequate desks, some schools are completely wall-less,” he says. These are schools with no classrooms at all, so learning takes place under trees. Physiological needs affect learning as well, and may be part of the reason behind poor performance in public schools as compared to private ones, says Karuga.

This crippling need is what has informed the decision by companies, such as Safaricom, and charity organisations such as Red Cross and ActionAid, to take Corporate Social Responsibility to educational institutions in a bid to provide relief for some of the worst affected schools.

On March 4 this year, for instance, the Safaricom Foundation constructed an ablution block at Imara Primary School, Kayole at a cost of Sh6 million. The school now boasts 16 new boys’ toilets and 21 new girls’ units.

“The Sh1,020 that the government provides for each child is barely enough to buy books, leave alone take care of a school’s infrastructure needs,” laments Karuga. “This is why, despite the fact that primary education is theoretically free, some schools are forced to charge a levy per child per term to build and maintain classrooms and toilets.”

Such is the reality at Lavington Primary School in Nairobi, where parents pay Sh1,500 per child per term for maintenance of infrastructure. However, Musau Ndunda, chairman of the Kenya National Association of Parents, is of the opinion that infrastructure development is solely a government responsibility, and that parents should not pay even a cent to ensure their children get quality education.

“The Education Act 2013 very clearly outlines everyone’s responsibilities,” he says. “The government must build and equip schools while the parent is tasked only with ensuring that the child goes to school.”

Even with the country’s seemingly bad performance in equipping the education sector, a report published in 2012 by United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) notes that Kenya’s commitment towards funding education has not waned.

STRONG SPENDING

The report states in part: “The economic downturn does not seem to have adversely affected education spending: 6.7 per cent of Kenya’s GNP was spent on education in 2010, increasing from the 5.4 per cent spent in 1999. This strong spending helped increase the primary net enrolment ratio from 62 per cent in 1999 to 83 per cent in 2009.”

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), however, Kenya is a long way from meeting the prescribed sanitation standards. The recommended government ratio for physical facilities in schools is 25 girls and 30 boys per latrine. It is estimated that in some places, 100 pupils share one latrine, which exposes them to infections associated with lack of proper sanitation.

Parents enroll their charges in schools trusting that it is a safe environment where they can grow up and get an education. In reality, the school has become just one more place for a child to contract a deadly disease, or worse, die in a freak accident. Like one Sydney Mulama.

From the Dailies - Couple gives teenage mums second chance

By BRIGID CHEMWENO (standard newspapers)
As we enter Daniel and Dorcas Njoroge’s homestead in Marurui, Nairobi, we are welcomed by babies playing in the compound, while their mothers work. The underage mothers from the nearby Jua Kali slums are drawn here by the opportunity to go back to school, acquire skills through which they can become self-reliant, and change the course of their lives, as well as those of their children. These young parents, some of them victims of sexual abuse, have undergone counselling, and are starting their lives afresh. In the group of 18 are four secondary school students hoping to achieve good grades so that they can pursue their dream careers, as well as 14 girls who are receiving training in various income-generating activities. “We take in teenage girls under the age of 15 who have dropped out of school after getting pregnant. Sometimes, rape, drug abuse or prostitution has made the girl’s situation worse. We rehabilitate them and then take them back to school or enroll them in vocational colleges,” says Daniel, an ordained reverend. Cases of pregnant girls being kicked out of home are rife in the Jua Kali slums, said to be home to at least 3,000 families. These homeless girls then become so desperate to make ends meet that they engage in any income-generating activity that comes their way, including prostitution and petty crime. Drugs help to dull the reality of their situation.
The plight of these teenage mothers is what inspired Daniel and his wife, Dorcas, to start the Wings of Compassion Centre in their home. The couple, whose four biological children are grown up, started taking in destitute girls in 2011. “At first, it was not easy persuading people who were used to slum life where they could get quick money through unlawful and immoral ways to change their ways,” says Dorcas. But with time, the mothers and their babies get used to a new life. “Some have gone back to school and are doing well with their studies while others have been trained in hairdressing, tailoring and other trades.” Some of the girls have left the centre to start a new and independent life
Though she had worked as a volunteer in many children’s homes, in 2011, Dorcas says she felt the need to go an extra mile in putting a smile on a desperate face. She was spurred into action the day when, while on a walk with her husband, they found a one-year-old child rummaging through a dumping site in the slum. “We picked up the baby and went round the slum looking for her mother. We came across eight girls chatting, and when they spotted us, one of them, who emerged to be the mother, offered to sell us the baby for Sh2,000,” recalls Dorcas. After a lengthy conversation with the group, it became evident that the girls engaged in prostitution to get money for food. “We identified the area where they lived and started a feeding programme for the young mothers and their babies in our home. As we interacted more closely with them, they confided that many of them lived in single-roomed houses in the slum. To raise the Sh3,000 rent and get money to feed their children, they engaged in prostitution and collaborated with robbers,” says Daniel. “Others were victims of early pregnancy who were kicked out by their parents or guardians when they got pregnant.” After the teenagers had received counselling from the couple and other advisers, there was a need to ensure they could sustain themselves without resorting to illegal means. “Some were prepared to go back to school, while others opted to gain skills through which they could become self-reliant and support their babies,” adds Daniel. Abandoning their bad habits meant the girls could no longer afford to pay rent, so they moved in with the Njoroges. Some of those who were living with guardians were kicked out because they no longer brought any money home. Daniel and Dorcas took it all in their stride, and went from house to house in their neighbourhood, seeking mattresses, bedding and clothes for their guests. Another challenge cropped up when the girls joined school, and the couple had to hire nannies to look after the babies. “We did not have school fees for the mothers, or money to hire staff, but we appealed to good Samaritans and got help,” says Dorcas. So far, 42 teenage mothers have ‘graduated’ from Wings of Compassion Centre. Most of them are working in the neighbourhoods of Roysambu and Zimmerman as tailors and hairdressers. When they leave the centre, they are provided with tools such as sewing machines and salon equipment to start them off in their new lives. The Njoroges also conduct follow-up to ensure the girls are doing well. Daniel and Dorcas may not enjoy the privacy they once did in their home, but they are happy to make the sacrifice to see young mothers and their children leading productive lives

By BRIGID CHEMWENO As we enter Daniel and Dorcas Njoroge’s homestead in Marurui, Nairobi, we are welcomed by babies playing in the compound, while their mothers work. The underage mothers from the nearby Jua Kali slums are drawn here by the opportunity to go back to school, acquire skills through which they can become self-reliant, and change the course of their lives, as well as those of their children. These young parents, some of them victims of sexual abuse, have undergone counselling, and are starting their lives afresh. In the group of 18 are four secondary school students hoping to achieve good grades so that they can pursue their dream careers, as well as 14 girls who are receiving training in various income-generating activities. “We take in teenage girls under the age of 15 who have dropped out of school after getting pregnant. Sometimes, rape, drug abuse or prostitution has made the girl’s situation worse. We rehabilitate them and then take them back to school or enroll them in vocational colleges,” says Daniel, an ordained reverend. Cases of pregnant girls being kicked out of home are rife in the Jua Kali slums, said to be home to at least 3,000 families. These homeless girls then become so desperate to make ends meet that they engage in any income-generating activity that comes their way, including prostitution and petty crime. Drugs help to dull the reality of their situation.
Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/lifestyle/article/2000106377/couple-gives-teenage-mums-second-chance

Give books to inmates - Newspaper article

Well wishers have been urged to donate reading materials to inmates to enable them pass their examinations. Speaking at the Meru Gk Prison, Commandant Benson Mbogori said the inmates undertaking KCPE and KCSE exams fail their exams because of lack of adequate text books.
He called on well wishers to donate various books to enable them pass their national examinations just like other candidates. He said prisoners need to be accepted bak to the society adding that some have excelled in national exams. He said that learning and undergoing various technical courses will help the inmates become reformed citizens by teh time they complete their jail term.

INSPIRE would like to kindly ask anyone intrested in donating books to contact emily at emily714miller@gmail.com of which will be taken to Kingongo prison. thankyou

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