For slum children, online learning is just a dream

Studying for students like Vivian Chepkirui and Patrick Junior has not been easy because they cannot access e-learning platforms from home. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

As Vivian Chepkirui stares at her book, her little mind seems lost in the moment. A candidate, her books are all she has to keep learning as schools are closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Outside, her siblings and their friends are playing to while the day away, distracting her concentration.

Chepkirui, a pupil at Muslim Primary School in Kaptembwo slums, Nakuru cannot afford the luxury of online learning, which has come in handy during such times when the world is going through a health crisis. 

She has no access to a radio or television, while internet is vocabulary that is foreign in her home. They also don’t have electricity, which means she cannot study at night when there are less distractions. 

“It has been difficult for me. I don’t own a single textbook and my mother’s phone cannot help me since it is broken down. I would like to keep learning and prepare for the exams but all I have are my notes and we hadn’t covered much,” says Chepkirui.

When tired of reading her notes, she keeps busy with her mother’s old Bible, which is basically the only reading material she has access to now.

“I am tired of reading and memorising the same notes every day. We had covered very little in school so I don’t have so much to work with,” she adds.

Her mother, Eunice Chepkoech, said she has run out of options as even putting food on the table has been a challenge. She does laundry jobs around Nakuru town, but these have also been hard to come by lately.

“The government is not being fair when it says learning is going on even in public schools. Here, we don’t have the luxury of getting access to some of the things needed for online learning like internet and gadgets such as smart phones or a laptop,” she says.

But even with the prevailing situation, Chepkirui remains optimistic. She says this will not dampen her dream of becoming a lawyer. 

“I am not about to give up on my dreams; I will do my part but I hope schools will be reopened soon so that other candidates like me who don’t have access to e-learning can get a chance to prepare for examinations. I believe better days are ahead of us and that is what keeps me going.”

Her neighbour, 15-year-old Patrick Junior, a Form Two student at Kabianga High School shares similar sentiments, but his situation isn’t as dire as Chepkirui’s since he is not a candidate. Junior has also been relying on his notes since schools closed over a month ago. 

“We are trying our best but we can only do so much. Studying is not easy here because of all the noise from children playing, and it is their right since they don’t have anywhere else to go. When I am tired, I join my friends out there to bask in the sun when it is not raining,” he said. 

The situation is the same to hundreds of other students living in the slum. Their only hope is for the government to reopen schools for them to continue learning. 

When the government ordered schools to close down after the first case of coronavirus was confirmed in mid-March, the Ministry of Education said it had designed online learning for students to continue with their studies at home. Other materials were to be delivered through radio, TV, Youtube and other digital platforms. The radio education broadcast, which has been on air since 1970s, was meant to  give guidance to the 15 million primary and secondary school learners who were yet to complete first term’s work. 

Nations across the world have since gone into a lockdown urging citizens to home school their children.