Whether or not to enrol your child in a faith-based school

Since independence, Kenya has witnessed a steady rise in private and faith-based learning institutions set up to complement the public ones. Although such institutions adhere to the general curriculum set by the Government, they incorporate various aspects that promote the ideals and faith they subscribe to.    

Some of the faith-based learning institutions in Kenya include Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Seventh Day Adventist, Islamic and Hindu schools and colleges. These institutions are anchored on religious teachings with strict guidelines on behaviour, interactions and programmes for the learners. The academic or intellectual effectiveness of faith-based schools and colleges is not in question, but what people have questioned over time is their social effectiveness.

James Karuge, who has a son at Methodist University, says: “Most religions are not well understood. The thing is to have a child in a learning environment where they are comfortable and feel they belong instead of one where they struggle to belong.”

Karuge finds it okay for his son to study at a university that professes his faith. “Of course theirs is not a religious boot camp. It is just normal learning.”

Faith-based schools tailor make their curriculum, programmes and regulations to fit the teachings of the ascribed faith, which may not augur well with some parents and learners. David Owino, a banker, says he enrolled his daughter in a mainstream primary school because he wants her to have an open mind, something he believes is inhibited in faith-based school.

“Faith-based schools are sort of indoctrination centres run by trained professionals. My daughter is a Christian but I would not want her in a strictly Christian school where she has to wake up at 6am to pray and spend half her weekends in the church. We live in a multi-cultural society and adaptability to those cultures is key to proper growth. I believe this lacks in faith-based schools,” says the 37-year-old.

Being deeply rooted and governed by the given religious leanings, it has been argued that faith-based institutions tend to steer the world view of its learners in a specific direction. That curiosity and inquisitiveness do not get much room in such schools. They are seen as incubation centres for producing model students as defined by the values and dictates of the faith.

Owino looks at faith-based schools as controlled environments - microcosms of culture - that do not necessarily agree with and never bother to interact with the outside world and its cultures. Karuge, on the other hand, thinks faith-based schools strive to educate learners in a polluted environment where a little control is necessary and needed for children.

The dangers of indoctrination in these schools, however, is real and for most parents, the decision to enrol a child in a faith-based or a regular mainstream school is one they make cautiously.