Study signals danger of two-year-olds in school

Parents are sending children to primary school when they are too young, education experts have warned.

A child should be enrolled in kindergarten at the age of three and in Standard One at six years, experts say, but a study by Kenyatta University shows nearly 60 per cent of all children enrolled in early childhood centres were too young.

University lecturers Sarah Ruto and Daniel Wesonga said: “Children as young as two years are being sent to school.”

The trend was harmful to the children, who were burdened by class work when they should be in play grounds, they said.

Children going to school too early were bound to repeat classes, they say.

Ceaseless learning and holiday tuition as the children go up the academic ladder deprived them of the crucial play time valuable for their development, they said.

Dr Ruto spoke at Gatanga Primary School in Murang’a where she launched a report ranking selected districts according to children’s learning abilities.

In their findings, the children were spending a critical part of their lives learning instead of playing.

Repeat classes

The study conducted in 70 districts across the country titled: “Are Our Children Learning?”, said that children who start school too early in life were bound to repeat classes “because the content being taught at a particular level does not match their mental age.”

This comes at a time when the nation is grappling with poor quality of education in schools.

According to a report released last week, one out of every 10 Standard Eight pupils cannot solve a Standard Two mathematical problem.

Also, 30 per cent of Standard Fives would fail the same problem, while only 20 per cent of Standard Two pupils would be able to solve it.

“It is time we examined what is happening in the classrooms,” Dr Ruto said.

“Every time children do well in national exams, we celebrate at the achievement of theory, but not practical learning.”

In the sampled areas — Kikuyu, Nyeri South, Eldoret East, Naivasha and Nakuru North topped the list of children whose competencies in numbers and words was good.

Poor performers under the same category were Pokot North, Samburu North, Mandera Central, and Tana River in that order.

In the study, more that 100,000 children aged three to 16 years were reached at home.

Students interviewed by the Nation at Gatanga Primary, said the situation was worse because of the few teachers, poverty, lack of infrastructure and sometimes domestic violence, which affected them negatively.

Absenteeism was also cited as a cause of poor performance in school.

“We have to rethink our education system if we are to achieve a meaningful educational experience,” the don said.