Tough lesson in slum schooling

By Maore Ithula

An incessant drizzle turned into a heavy downpour, pounding the corrugated iron sheet roof and drowning the sound of singing pupils.

The pupils, drawn from three lower primary classes, combined to learn under one roof, were undeterred and raised their voices above the din of the sound of rain as they happily sung the old nursery rhyme, "Baah baah black sheep....."

Rain drops seeped through gaps on the roof and the iron sheet wall, keeping the head-teacher busy as she moved books to dry corners.

Pupils at Mercy Junior Academy at Mukuru kwa Njenga slum, Nairobi, playing on the street outside their classroom. [PHOTOS: SAIDI HAMISI /STANDARD]

Many parents who complain of hardships like congestion in public schools and declining performance would be humbled by an experience at Mercy Junior Academy in the heart of Mukuru kwa Njenga slum in Nairobi.

What is taken for granted in schools in upmarket areas is only a dream in this private primary school that has a dirty water trench passing right through the compound.

Most of the pupils who school here meander through slum paths and trenches, either wet and slippery or dusty depending on the weather.

Some are escorted to school and picked by their parents because their cannot find their way back home among the labyrinth of shacks.

Public schools

Schools like Mercy Junior Academy extend only up to Standard Three or Four. Older children attend public schools which are farther out the heart of the settlement.

There are three public primary schools accessible to Mukuru kwa Njenga, Mukuru kwa Rueben and Mukuru Kaiyaba slum residents, all partly sponsored by the Catholic Church. They are Njenga Primary, Mukuru Community Centre and Our Lady of Nazareth primary schools.

A survey by The Standard to record hardships faced by slum communities amid hard economic times found out that schooling in these settlements is a struggle against effects of poverty and squalor.

Mercy Junior Academy and other slum schools we visited move one to compassion on observing children singing and playing instead of having lunch because their parents cannot afford to pack any food for them.

With a population of 60, the private school sits on a 40 by 60ft rented space. The classes are built and roofed with corrugated iron sheets.

There are only two classrooms, one for the kindergarten toddlers while pupils of Standard One, Two and Three share one classroom, each group facing a different wall where their teacher is.

Cannot afford

Ms Jane Njau, the head teacher, says: "Only few parents in this area can afford to feed their children on a daily basis. During lunch hour we just let them play outside," she says.

Only a iron sheet wall separates residential rooms from the classrooms.

"If a neighbour decides to play loud music, a teacher will have to knock on the mabati wall to request for the volume of the radio to be lowered," says the head teacher, laughing but matter-of-factly.

The pupils answer calls of nature in private toilets for which owners charge one shilling per pupil per day.

Books are few, most of them donated by well-wishers and pupils and teachers share.

Some of the schools are run by non-governmental organisations which offer feeding programmes and free education.

But Mercy Junior Academy parents pay Sh450 per term for each child. Another Sh50 is charged for terminal exams.