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African Journal of Food Agriculture Nutrition and Development, Vol. 3, No. 2, November, 2003 FREE PRIMARY EDUCATION IN KENYA: KEY COMPONENTS THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD INCLUDE BSc Food Science and Post Harvest Technology, Intern - Rural Outreach Program P.O. Box 29086-00625 Nairobi, Kenya. E-mail: mwangalachi@yahoo.com Code Number: nd03018 Kenya’s development challenges have for a long time been poverty, ignorance and disease. Additional challenges have been identified as HIV/AIDS and globalization [1]. According to the current National Development Plan (2002-2008), the development goals include the implementation of the eight Millennium Development Goals, among which is to “Achieve universal primary education” [1,2,3]. It is against this backdrop that the Kenyan government, early this year, began the implementation of the Free and Compulsory Primary Education program, much to the delight of a wide cross-section of people, both Kenyan and non-Kenyan. It is well known that education has the capacity to improve the quality of life and to develop the intellectual capacity of a nation, which is a most valuable resource. This is particularly important at this particular moment in time, as the country aims to position itself to achieve sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction, through effective management. It will be increasingly important for the Kenyan work force to be literate, numerate, trainable, skilled and flexible, so as to effectively participate in nation building and seize the opportunities globalization presents [1]. Prior to the implementation of the Free and Compulsory Primary Education, the rates of enrolment at the primary level were below 50% [1]. Much as enrolment rates soared after the government’s declaration of this program, there are still cases of some children not attending school. This prompted the government to declare that any parents not sending their children to school, for whatever reason, would be prosecuted. However, what remains unclear to most people is that there are additional underlying factors responsible for children not attending school. One of these is biting poverty. Abagi [4] identified persistent poverty as one of the constraints to the efficient delivery of the Kenyan education system. Today, it is an open secret that the majority of Kenyans live in abject poverty, with this proportion of the population being placed at 56% [1,5]. According to the 2003 Human Development Report, the standards of living in Kenya have generally decreased; with the poor becoming poorer [5]. Some of the poor parents cannot afford to provide the additional inputs required to sustain the children in school. These include stationery, school uniforms and most importantly, food. Poverty is known to breed hunger and malnutrition. Hungry and malnourished children have reduced capacities to learn. These children have been shown to perform poorly in school [6]. Another major contributory factor to school absenteeism is ill health. The conditions experienced include malaria, helminth infections, diarrheal disease as well as acute respiratory infections [7]. Unfortunately these problems seem to be more prevalent among the poor as well. It is thus the poor children, who are already hungry and malnourished, who are further robbed of an opportunity to improve their future lives through acquisition of a basic education. This situation is more prevalent in informal settlements in urban areas, where the living conditions are squalid and overcrowded, with poor drainage, limited or no access to safe drinking water and health facilities. Girls continue to be absent from school, for a variety of reasons. Chief among these is the continued socio-cultural perception that it is better to educate a boy than a girl. In addition, a girl may be required to stay out of school so as to care for younger siblings; this has been exacerbated by the increasing prevalence of HIV/AIDS, which continues to leave more and more children orphaned. Yet in some areas, such as among the pastoral communities, there is evidence of more boys staying out of school to herd cattle, as globally girl education is emphasized [8]. In order for the government to ensure that there are more children retained in school, it needs to address these issues and to do so urgently. In order to combat short-term hunger, the government can coordinate, in collaboration with the relevant international agencies such as the World Food Program (WFP) and others, the implementation of school feeding programs, whereby these children can be provided with breakfast or morning snacks. Researchers in Jamaica have established that providing children with breakfast led to an improvement in school attendance as well as greater performance in arithmetic [9]. Further, the schools could be supplied with fortified foodstuffs, especially salt, maize flour and cooking fat or oil, with iodine, iron and Vitamin A, respectively. In addition, there could be the establishment of school gardens so as to promote dietary diversity. Both of these interventions will enable the schools to provide mid-day meals as well. This will deal with the twin problems of protein-energy malnutrition as well as micronutrient deficiencies. Another aspect that needs to be considered is the adequate provision of safe water and sanitation facilities, especially for human waste disposal. The incorporation of deworming programs would form a good complement to this. These would go a long way towards reducing the incidences of diarrhea and helminth infections [10]. It is imperative to involve the local community, so as to establish a sense of ownership among its members. This would come in handy in the implementation of this program. They can participate in the building of the necessary facilities such as pit latrines/toilets and establishment of the community/school gardens. Who are the children to be targeted by these school-feeding programs? The most logical and practical approach would involve targeting those children that are the most vulnerable and disadvantaged: the poor ones living in urban areas and also those coming from households hard-hit by HIV/AIDS. These are the children coming from homes with serious food and nutrition insecurity. While the successful implementation of a ‘wholesome’ school-feeding program may seem a daunting undertaking, the benefits to be derived from it in the long-term are immeasurable. It will go a long way in ensuring that Kenyan children stay in school long enough to acquire the knowledge and skills they require so as to effectively contribute to nation building as productive workers, parents and citizens. Most importantly, it will enable us to give Kenyan children a fighting chance in the global playing field not just through availing primary education but also improving their health and nutrition. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The author wishes to thank Prof. Ruth Oniang’o for editing and reviewing this paper. REFERENCES
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