Former US President Bill Clinton roots for more Kenyan girls in school

Former US President Bill Clinton has challenged the Government to ensure as many girls as possible enroll in schools and receive quality education.

Speaking in Nairobi during the second day of his three-day tour of the country yesterday, he decried the lack of equal opportunities in the country, saying this could have denied Kenya the services of some of her best brains.

He toured Farasi Lane Primary School in Kitisuru with his daughter Chelsea alongside Environment Cabinet Secretary Judy Wakhungu and foreign donors. The school is a beneficiary of the “No Ceilings: The Full Participation Project”, a Clinton Foundation initiative aimed at inspiring and advancing full participation of women and girls around the world.

During the school tour and where an animated interaction with the pupils took place, Clinton said he had learnt that intelligence is evenly distributed all over the world while opportunity is not. He said the initiative will not stop until opportunity is available to all.

“How many people have we missed because they did not have the chance to show what was in their minds?” he asked, citing the late Nobel laureate Prof Wangari Maathai as among the women who got the opportunity to shine.

“The world is better when we work together, have enough chances and when no one stands in the way of others,” he said.

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Chelsea applauded the Kenyan government for the efforts put in educating the girl child but insisted more needs to be done to have as many girls as possible in school. She, however, acknowledged the fact that many governments are struggling to offer quality education.

“The problem of quality education is similar to the one we are facing even in America. It is a global challenge to ensure that everyone gets quality education in the 21st century,” she said.

Some speakers highlighted problems facing the Free Primary Education policy in the country among them lack of facilities, lack of government support for informal school and the fact that some parents are still being made to pay school fees despite education being free.