Retired teacher’s bid to transform education

By Joe Ombuor

Balancing the act. That is what retired teacher David Kimani is attempting to do in what he calls ‘examination-obsessed’ Kenya.

Typical of Kenyan education system, Mr Kimani says as a student, he crammed his way to a strong Division One pass in then East African Certificate of Education Examination, went to Kaimosi Teacher Training College and emerged the top graduate in 1987, out of 700 students.

A pupil prepares to plant a seedling. [PHOTO: JOE OMBUOR/STANDARD]

And as a teacher, he says, ensured his pupils excelled in national examinations before he realised learning was not all about cramming and passing examinations.

This was his starting point for espousing alternative education "to break the monotony of learning."

Kimani’s about turn — after eight years of a sterling teaching career at Strathmore Primary School — to resign and devote his time to a children’s programme for alternative learning, surprised former colleagues.

That was the start of his novel crusade to "inject something fresh into the stereotyped educational system that is known for its undue emphasis on examinations" thanks to his innovativeness and creativity.

Through his programme, Kimani has galvanised 250 pupils from 25 primary schools in Nairobi into a club he calls Juhudi to promote ‘out of class’ learning. It provides children with a different learning atmosphere from the conventional one.

"Juhudi, in collaboration with some schools, has been involved in re-forestation efforts at Ragia Forest, a catchments area that serves Sasumua Dam with water," he says.

Foreign envoys

The initiative under sponsorship of East African Breweries and Athi Water Sources Board has benefited the forest with 19,000 tree seedlings in the past two weeks alone, explains Mr Kimani.

The schools on board include the Rosa Sharon Academy, Pentecostal Church Academy and Saint Elizabeth’s Boys’ Academy.

He says a similar initiative supported by the Nairobi Water Company saw 17,000 seedlings planted within seven years at Kikuyu Springs, the main source for Nairobi River.

Kimani’s ‘growing up green’ approach and efforts to have foreign envoys talk to the children about their countries has proved a real revolution to children’s intellectual development.

It has also earned him international recognition. He recently won the prestigious Ashoka Fellow award. He is one of the 2,000 fellows from 60 countries who have won the award.

A plaque bearing his name reads: "Transforming the experience of school children through activities that promote engaging, informative, hands on learning"

‘Growing up green’ encourages Standard One pupils and their parents to plant trees in school compound and nurture the trees for the eight-year course in primary level. The schools designate part of their compounds for the programme.

"We have in three years succeeded in creating mini- arboretums at Thigio, Gatura, Gitutha, Kiruri, Tutu and Kiawanda primary schools in Kiambu District," he explains.

He says the idea behind the programme is creating a passion for environmental conservation from a tender age so that "it matures in them as they grow older".

He adds: "Suppose the child remains at the school for eight years, nursing the tree, he is likely to develop a passion for planting trees whenever he grows. The exercise also enables parents to make tree planting a family affair.

Self-reliant venture

He now urges the Government to encourage children by paying them as little as Sh10 per tree planted. Individuals and groups who ‘live trees’ are currently donating seedlings to the programme.

Kimani’s alternative learning also embraces arts, an area he argues has been neglected in spite of its potential to make people self-reliant and the opportunities it provides.

He partners with established art organisations such as the Kuona Trust and Joy Mboya’s Godown Arts Centre to make children appreciate art and creativity from at early age.

"The world is moving from conventional careers we are obsessed with today to arts and creativity," says Kimani. "Take music, for instance. Many parents will outright dismiss the talent as inconsequential, yet some of the society’s top earners are artistes.

"The same applies to talents such as theatre, acrobatics, painting, design and others that are looked down upon in ordinary life despite their expediency if exploited," he says.

A mosaic art project he championed in partnership with a British architectural mosaic artist Jim Anderson is taking pupils to hospitals where they display their artistic works on boards to comfort and entertain patients.

The mosaics, according to Kimani, help reduce the suffering of patients by destructing their attention from their suffering while adding beauty and colour to the hospital atmosphere. For the pupils, the feeling that they have something to contribute to the sick and suffering is exhilarating.

Kenyatta National Hospital has 44 such boards; Mathari Hospital has 35 and Coast General Hospital in Mombasa, 33. He says New Nyanza Provincial General Hospital in Kisumu and Moi Referral Hospital in Eldoret will soon have their share of the same.

Boogie rides

The project has, thanks to partnership with Mr Anderson, earned him and a handful of gifted pupils from various schools trips to the UK where they put up boards at the Royal London Hospital in 2003 and Aden Brooks Hospital in Cambridge in 2005.

To sample live some of the things they learn in school, Kimani organises a boogie ride for about 1,000 pupils every year during which they travel by train to see some of the natural features they learn in school. These include informal settlements, highlands, hills and valleys.

"A ride from Nairobi to Kisumu, for instance, brings them face to face with the escarpment, the great Rift Valley, Mt Longonot, Lake Naivasha, pyrethrum around Molo, tea in Kericho, sugarcane plantations and Lake Victoria," he says.

To have a glimpse into what they read about the space and astrology, Kimani’s Juhudi club has improvised an observatory complete with a telescope.

"Being right on the equator, our skies are very clear and children can easily view many of the things they read in theory. Juhudi club members have better knowledge of the moon and some of the planets in the solar system than their ordinary counterparts," says Kimani.