How role models boost academic performance in schools

Lupita Nyong'o in action in the film Queen of Katwe that pre-aired in Kampala Saturday night. PHOTO CURTESY

Rarely do teachers and parents in Kenya consider low educational aspirations as a drawback to students’ learning outcomes in arid areas, urban slums and other pockets of extreme poverty.

The issue is those students’ aspirations and sense to succeed through education is brow-beaten by the very difficult nature of living in poverty. However, new evidence suggest that students’ aspirations and impact on educational achievement could be increased by intervention of role models featured in video or in full-fledged feature films.