Education tops priority for most Kenyans

Both women and men are most concerned about educating themselves or their families, a report on how Kenyans access financial products and priorities shows.

The difference of how the biggest priority is to both of them is only 0.8 per cent.

For men, the consideration is rated 35.9 per cent and women 35.1 per cent in the 2019 FinAccess Household survey by Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and Financial Sector Deepening Kenya (FSD Kenya).

In rating the priorities for both gender, education was clustered with putting food on the table, improving business, health, building a house and buying assets. And both ranked education first.

Women were however more interested in putting food on the table than men. Their per cent stood at 30.4 against 26.6 for men.

Despite the high interest to be educated, girls who are to proceed through university and advance their careers are faced with various challenges including access to menstrual products.

In September, 2019, a 14-year-old year pupil at a Bomet Primary School committed suicide following period shaming by a female teacher.

As from July, 2017 primary schools in Kenya were to be provided with sanitary towels by the government through State Department of Gender and in collaboration with Ministry of Education to remove the problem of girls absconding classes during their menses, thus affecting their academic performance.

This State facilitation is guaranteed in Section 39(k) of the Basic Education Amendment Act, 2017, which requires the government to "provide free, sufficient and quality sanitary towels to every girl-child registered and enrolled in a public basic education institution who has reached puberty and provide a safe and environmentally sound mechanism for disposal of the sanitary towels."

In a recent interview with Narc Kenya party leader Martha Karua, the former legislator noted the urgency of women parliamentarians to push the government into ensuring the policy on sanitary towels is effectively implemented to bear its intended fruits.

According to Mr Chryspin Afifu, a specialist on gender and development, and who consults with UN Women, it is crucial that women are provided with an enabling environment to become financially stable so they may support their girl’s access to education.

“Women are now becoming more and more aggressive in advancing their careers. They are enrolling for Masters and PhDs just as men which is phenomenal,” he said on phone on Wednesday.

“But  what happens to that girl in the rural areas, then one who we are expecting to take over the women leadership,  but can't go to school due to lack of basic necessities?” he queried.

He said empowered women are more inclined to invest in their children than those struggling to meet their immediate needs.