A shift is happening in education system without ministry’s input

A major shift is taking place in the country’s education system, but without the ministry or in spite of it.

The consequences of this shift will become apparent sometime, but it will be too late for the ministry. It is a quiet revolution; one that grows out of disappointment with the Education ministry and the government; a revolution borne of bitter disappointment with the performance of government.

This is a silent revolution adopting private solutions to public problems in the education sector. I am reminded of a while ago during the Kanu days when the country was suddenly plunged into total darkness and the water taps ran dry.

In response, many Kenyans either went to buy water storage tanks or solar-powered lighting systems. Exasperated by this situation, Prof Peter Anyang Nyong’o wondered aloud why Kenyans preferred private solutions to public problems. Prof Nyong’o meant that there is no way private solutions will solve the generalised public problems.

UNREWARDING TUSSLE

And there lies the dilemma. Ever since the ministry plunged us into an unrewarding tussle between private and public primary and secondary schools, those of us whose children qualified from private primary schools but were denied public secondary school spaces have disengaged and resorted to private secondary schools.

The idea is that we can afford it, anyway. But there are many parents who cannot afford private secondary school or university. These are part of the rising statistic of extremely bitter parents.

Then, there are those parents whose children were either admitted to expensive national schools they cannot afford or have bumped into one or the other problem created by the ministry. The worst cases involve children whose parents cannot afford the exorbitant school fees. These, too, are joining the group of bitter parents disappointed with the government.

One organisation, Tusomeshe Watoto Kakamega County, plunged itself into this murky terrain to support qualified children whose parents cannot afford fees. They have rescued many students to date. Their story has been the subject of news items in local media.

One of the children walked many kilometres seeking help with those over-advertised and well-known scholarship groups. He was unsuccessful. One even wanted to sell a kidney but the Tosomeshe Watoto group rescued him.

PHILANTHROPY

The Tusomeshe Watoto model is philanthropy at its best; their approach is deliberate, quiet, not-for-profit but effective. Members volunteer to scrutinise the families to gauge their need and ensure they qualify for support. They visit the homes, host the qualified candidates and escort them to school upon admission.

Contributions come from far off in the US or Europe or from people across the country. Members also mentor the young ones. They even organised a walk to raise money and support the qualified children.

Yet there is a downside. Private solutions to public problems are a useful stop-gap measure. But if the problem is not addressed, and the education problem has been festering for years now, these solutions can easily constitute a means to disengaging from non-performing government agencies.

No doubt, the initiatives are genuine and represent much needed acts of giving. But one cannot fail to see that such initiatives are silent forms of protest. Their core constituency are people who are giving up and feel helpless in the face of massive government failures.

GOVERNMENT APPOINTMENTS

Several years down the line, you will not have heard of such small, community-based education support systems. You will have heard of the big ones, those able to buy huge media advertisement space and that shepherd their awardees into the profit-driven corporate world or high profile government appointments.

Yet, the small and unknown initiatives will be critical partly because they will create a generation of educated and properly mentored young people whose values and consciousness will be driven by a commitment to community not by the profit motive that undergirds the corporate culture.

Godwin Murunga is Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi