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| Famine
takes toll on learning in Kenya |
| By David
Aduda, journalists of the Nation Newspaper in Kenya |
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|
 Several
districts in Kenya are struggling against famine and every
day pupils drop out due to hunger.
|
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| It
was 3 o'clock in the afternoon, but Syombuka Mwema and her sister
Veronica had not eaten since morning. They were in school for
the morning session but walked out in the afternoon, unable
to concentrate as hunger pangs started biting. And they weren't
even sure of getting something to eat for dinner. |
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| At
Thome Primary School in Kitui District, Maria Mutiso nearly
missed sitting a national examination, the Kenya Certificate
of Primary Education (KCPE), were it not for the teachers, who
contributed money to provide her with meals to sustain her during
the exam period. |
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| KCPE
is taken at the end of the primary school cycle. It determines
who will go on to secondary level and ultimately higher education.
Kenya's education system is structured into eight years of primary
schooling, four of secondary schooling and four at university
level. Some tertiary colleges such as teacher training institutions
operate on a three-year basis. |
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| The
cases above abound in Kitui District in Kenya's Eastern Province
and threaten to slow down enrolment in schools, thus diminishing
all hopes of achieving the education for all goal. Kitui is
only one of the twenty-one districts in Kenya faced with famine
and every day pupils drop out due to hunger. Other affected
districts include Turkana, Mwingi, Mbeere, Maralal, Garissa,
Wajir, Kwale, Marsabit, Isiolo, West Pokot, among others. In
many of these, head teachers expressed alarm not only over high
dropouts but also declining academic standards. |
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| Premature
close of schools |
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| Because
of poor harvests due to a lack of rain, many families who depend
on farming are faced with starvation, and asking children to
attend school regularly is expecting too much. |
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| In
Mwingi District, where some 500 pupils had dropped out of school
before the end of the third term, the district education officer,
Mr Silvester Shiundu, warned last October that many of his schools
were threatened by premature closure. |
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| Although
the total number of pupils who have dropped out of school due
to famine cannot as yet be ascertained, reports on the spot
are chilling. Food is scarce and when available, expensive,
with the result that many families can provide only one meal
a day. |
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| According
to some headteachers in Kitui district, other pupils were forced
to drop out to take care of their siblings when the parents
went in search of food or to look for jobs to supplement the
family income. The headteacher of Thome Primary school, Mr Maurice
Makau, said this was the case for many of the twenty-one pupils
who dropped out from his school to look for employment as herd
boys. Children may also have to miss school to assist in domestic
chores such as fetching water which is scarce and often to be
found only at long distances from their homes. |
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| Although
the short rains fell in November, it had been months without
real showers. The farms, the livelihood of most people in this
area, were bereft of anything. Animals were dying for lack of
grass and water. Most water points had dried and people had
to squeeze the water from small holes in the sandy river bed.
|
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| At
Kwa Vonza Primary School, the number of pupils has dropped by
about 20 per cent, from 320 in January to 265 by the end of
1999. "If the famine continues as severe as it has been this
year," said Mr Daniel Nzilu, the headteacher, "we may not have
any pupils next year." |
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| Lack
of concentration |
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| "Some
children come to school on an empty stomach and stay the whole
day without eating", said Mr Makau. "It is simply pathetic.
Certainly, they cannot concentrate in class, which means they
are not likely to do well in the exams." |
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| Expanding
enrolment is therefore difficult to impossible. At Thibo Primary
School, there were only 7 candidates sitting the exam and the
number will probably not increase next year. The headteacher,
Mr George Musyoka, said the school had 150 pupils from standard
one to eight, with 8 in standard seven. |
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| "With
only a few children completing the pre-unit, we will have very
few pupils enrolling for standard one next year," said Mr Pereira.
|
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| But
that is only half of the problem. The other headache for the
heads is raising funds to provide basic teaching and learning
equipment. Since most parents cannot afford the tuition fees,
there is no point in sending the children home to get the money.
|
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| The
headteacher of Tiva Primary School, Mr Japheth Mwilu, said his
committee had suspended fees because they were burdensome to
parents. "It is meaningless even to ask, because the parents
are unable to pay even if they want to," he argued. |
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| Indeed,
this brings to question the wisdom of having cost-sharing in
Kenyan education, which requires that parents and communities
contribute towards the provision of learning and teaching facilities
in schools. The argument is that the cost-sharing policy has
a negative impact on poor communities, which cannot afford to
provide their schools with the required facilities. |
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| No food
to buy |
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| The
boarding secondary schools are even worse off, being faced with
the spectre of early closure as there is no food to sustain
students through the three-month long academic term.
|
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| The
headmistress of Mulutu Girls Secondary School, Mrs Veronica
Juma, was curt: "We either get food now or close the schools
before the official date". Mrs Juma, whose observation is typical
in the district, talked of the parents' inability to pay fees
as well as the lack of food. Both problems stem from the raging
famine. |
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| "We
can't get the maize to purchase even if we have the money,"
she quipped. "More often than not, however, there is no money
and there is no food to buy. She said she had exhausted the
goodwill of suppliers from whom she had been getting provisions
on credit. "Actually," said Mr Erastus Mulwa, the headteacher
of Tiva Mixed Secondary School, with a smile, "We (headtachers)
are now being shunned by suppliers because when they see us,
they know we are out for credit." |
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| Nearly
half of his students have dropped out of school in the past
seven months and the situation is likely to worsen in January.
It is almost impossible to balance the account books with the
large number of fee defaulters, but the problem is, sending
the students away to get the fees amounts to expelling them
from school. |
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| For
headteachers in these districts, sustaining enrolment and preparing
candidates to perform well in the national examination is a
Herculean task. As for the parents, the dilemma is whether to
let the children go to school on empty stomachs or keep them
at home to help in domestic chores or work as domestic hands
in towns to earn some income to keep the family going. |
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| Whatever
the case, famine coupled with other problems like overloaded
curriculum, shortage of teachers, inadequate teaching and learning
facilities, compromise Kenya's resolve to provide quality education
to all children. Simply put, Kenya is still far from achieving
the education-for-all goal due to natural and self-made conditions. |
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