Elderly Nairobi women troop back to school

Hannah Njoki (left) and Nancy Nyambura study during an adult learning class session at Cornerstone School in Ngando, Dagoretti South. [PHOTO:JONAH ONYANGO/STANDARD]

A new breed of learners is emerging in Nairobi’s classrooms. They have never stepped inside a formal classroom all their life, or if they did, they dropped out so many years ago that they cannot remember what one plus one equals to.

Struggling to pronounce vowels and solve basic arithmetic problems, they are now determined to sharpen their mathematics and English skills.