State must guard children's right to education

Pupils play a skit on leadership during Newspaper in Education (NIE) program Launch at Mowlem Creek Premier school in Kangundo.[David Gichuru,Standard]

A woman in Nyandarua County killed herself for failing to raise her son’s school fees. In Kisii, the pain was not on the parent because there weren’t any. An orphaned girl took a pesticide in frustration after a watchman allegedly turned her away at Kereri Girls. The watchman might have just glanced at her and concluded she wasn’t welcome.

In Kitale, a boy walked 50km to make it in time for school. In tattered uniform, he decided his education was a matter of life and death. He didn’t have fare, leave alone school fees. Another boy ferried a cockerel to seek admission. These are some of the unfortunate incidents as hundreds of thousands of Standard Eight leavers joined secondary school. They are a just a drop in the ocean compared to the real number of students, parents and guardians who had a hard time. It puts into question government policies on access to education and 100 per cent transition. Why would a government with a budget of more than Sh3 trillion allow such?

American Educationist Horace Mann said: “Education, then, beyond all other divides of human origin, is a great equaliser of conditions of men - the balance wheel of the social machinery.”

For many Kenyan children, education is their only way out of poverty. They don’t just hope to lift themselves out but also lift their families. That has been true for most families. Most doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers are from very poor family backgrounds.

All three former presidents; Jomo Kenyatta, Daniel Moi and Mwai Kibaki had education and exposure as a huge defining factor. Thus, no child should fail to acquire education just because he or she comes from a poor background. The government has capacity to identify candidates who would eventually need support to proceed with education. Even before they sit KCPE, government should know an orphan or one from a challenged background. Bright, poor children who are more likely to be admitted to schools away from their locality, do not just need bursaries but scholarships.

The Ministry of Education can create a portal where all children who cannot afford to advance to secondary school can lodge a petition for help. While well-wishers are welcome, the government cannot abdicate its role of ensuring equity in access to education.

Still, secondary education has become costlier over the years despite government intervention. Many school heads have also blatantly disregarded the official fee guidelines thus demanding more from parents. There is also need for more investment in day schools because they are more affordable.

According to article 53 of the Constitution, very child has a right to free and compulsory basic education. It is thus right for us to demand that the government puts in place measures that will assure each child of access to education.