Today we celebrate the International Day of the African Child. This day was initiated 27 years ago to honor those children who participated in the Soweto Uprising on June 16, 1976 to raise awareness of the continuing need for improvement of the education provided to African children. This year’s theme: “Leave No Child Behind for Africa’s Development” requires us to reflect on what we must do to ensure that no child is left behind in accessing quality education. Imperative is to think about those children at risk of not learning- the poor, girls, those discriminated against, and those facing numerous challenges.
Reforms that enable children enroll in school and learn
Education is core to the development of any society. Workforce with the right skills, values, and attitudes is essential in driving a vibrant economy. Leaving no child behind will call for various strategies. First is to have reforms that ensure all children enroll in school and learn. Kenya is in the early stages of reforming the education system, moving away from the 8-4-4 to 2-6-6-3 structure. The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, the body mandated to engineer the curriculum reform process must set national standards and put clear measures to monitor what children are learning. The curriculum must accommodate and empower all children, regardless of their learning abilities. Consequently, the new curriculum needs to produce tangible results at every level; that after spending two years in pre-primary and six years in primary school, a child must be competent. Previously, damning reports have shown that a sizeable number of Standard Eight pupils cannot read a Standard Two level English story. We need to end this.
More financial resources
Leaving no child behind requires enormous resources. The Ministry of Education needs to allocate a substantial amount of money on where it is needed most. The 2018 budget must reflect increased capitation grants to children in arid and semi-arid counties. These are children who often lag behind in all education fronts, from late enrollment, low transition rates to poor learning outcomes. It is unfortunate that 55 years after independence, children in some arid counties learn
in deplorable conditions. The glaring inequalities between schools in arid and semi-arid counties and other regions are overwhelming. From capitation grants, learning materials to teacher distribution and learning outcomes among Kenyan counties are blunt inequalities that warrant urgent attention. All children must access quality education irrespective of their geographical location.
Measures to facilitate proper usage of resources
While more financial resources are needed in the education sector, those resources must be well managed. That way, grants will follow children to facilitate learning. Corruption is a serious problem in Kenya, a vice that has denied Kenyan children access to quality education. Vital is a strong financial management system that compels the Ministry of Education to track expenditure from system to school level. The Ministry should publish education accounts to strengthen accountability and improve efficiency and results. A recent report from Twaweza East Africa shows that 91 percent of Kenyans do not know how much funding is provided to primary schools per child in the Free Primary Education (FPE) fund. An Uninformed populace triggers opportunities for mismanagement and embezzlement of school funds and resources.
Similarly, the Ministry of Education should put in place sound education management information systems to identify the root cause of teacher and pupil absenteeism. Finally, leaving no child behind for Africa’s development also needs active participation of parents. Parents should provide, support and motivate their children in all education endeavors. Availing food, education materials, child security is a significant role for any responsible parent.
Izel Kipruto is a Program Officer- Communications at PAL Network.