Schools lack drinking water, classrooms and playgrounds
What you need to know:
- According to parents surveyed, it was only in Taita Taveta and Kajiado, with attendances of 68 per cent and 78 per cent respectively, where less than 85 per cent of all children attended school.
- Statistics from Ministry of Education, indicate that 1.9 million children in Kenya aged 6 to 13 years old are out of school. Another 2.7 million aged 14-17 years are also not enrolled in schools.
- Parents who were surveyed listed a special unit for mentally challenged pupils, special toilets, ramps, special desks and learning materials as the facilities for disabled pupils that they thought were required.
Many schools around the country suffer from inadequate classroom, playgrounds, sanitation facilities, making education a struggle for many students, a survey on education has shown.
The study, carried out by the Institute of Economic Affairs shows that long distances from school, poor water and toilet facilities, discrimination, and wild animals are some of the challenges children in Taita-Taveta County must face in obtaining a primary school education.
Parents were surveyed in the seven counties of Taita Taveta, Kajiado, Mombasa, Kilifi, Nairobi, Busia and Baringo. They gave varied reasons as to why their children did not attend school regularly.
These included distance from the school in Kajiado and Taita Taveta, lack of food and sanitary towels in Baringo and wild animals in Taita Taveta.
According to parents surveyed, it was only in Taita Taveta and Kajiado, with attendances of 68 per cent and 78 per cent respectively, where less than 85 per cent of all children attended school.
School attendance in Nairobi was at 100 per cent, 94 per cent in Kilifi, 91 per cent in Busia, 88 per cent in Mombasa and 86 per cent in Baringo.
Overall, pupils in Kajiado and Taita Taveta counties, which had the poorest attendance, travelled longer distances to school, with 26 per cent of parents surveyed in Kajiado County indicating that children cover more than five kilometres before reaching school.
“Such areas do require boarding schools as a way of ensuring that pupils attend school regularly and that they are not denied learning opportunities,” the survey says.
Statistics from Ministry of Education, indicate that 1.9 million children in Kenya aged 6 to 13 years old are out of school. Another 2.7 million aged 14-17 years are also not enrolled in school.
The survey also revealed that parents’ satisfaction levels with education in general were low in Taita Taveta, Nairobi and Kilifi at 45 per cent, 50 per cent and 52 per cent respectively.
Reasons cited by parents include among others inadequate number of teachers, poor academic performance, teachers not marking pupils homework, lack of text books and syllabus not being covered in school.
When pupils were surveyed on the sufficiency of classrooms, 98 per cent of the students in Baringo County said they had adequate classrooms, while only 47 per cent in Busia were content with their classrooms.
Students in Busia said they had to learn under trees or share a classroom with another class.
A review of the study by Nation Newsplex found that pupils in Taita Taveta were the most critical of their water and toilet facilities. Nearly two thirds (65 per cent) said drinking water was unavailable, compared to Baringo, where 20 per cent of students said they had no drinking water. About a third of students in Taita Taveta said their drinking water was not safe, compared to just four in five students in Baringo.
Over half the pupils polled in Nairobi (55 per cent) also said their drinking water was not safe.
Some of the sources of water used in school identified by pupils are cart pushers, dam, stream, tap water from common supply and tapped water from the tank while availability of water is highest in Nairobi County.
The reported availability of playgrounds was lowest in Mombasa and Busia, where only 68 per cent and 73 per of students reported having a playground, in contrast to Kajiado where every child (100 per cent) reported having access to a playground. Students in Mombasa and Busia indicated that they used the nearest school’s playground or a common playground in the locality for sports events.
Busia County had by far the most facilities for disabled children, with 95 per cent of students surveyed there agreeing. The next best provided for county was Nairobi, where only 18 per cent of students said their school provided for students with disabilities.
Parents who were surveyed listed a special unit for mentally challenged pupils, special toilets, ramps, special desks and learning materials as the facilities for disabled pupils that they thought were required.
The survey recommends that the government increase water facilities and provide clean water as a measure against water borne diseases among pupils as well as improve sanitation and toilet facilities by increasing the number of facilities and ensuring that the facilities are clean by hiring support staff such as teachers where there is need.
“Install electricity in schools to enable pupils study for longer hours, hire more trained teachers, improve on school security by building fences or walls, provide pupils with more learning materials especially textbooks,” it recommends.
They also want the government to enforce the law by ensuring that pupils are not sent home for non-payment of outlawed levies and fees as well as buy more chairs and desks to cater for the high number of pupils and repair all broken desks and chairs.
“School authorities should involve parents and pupils in decision making through increased consultation by opening up spaces for engagement. School authorities should enhance accountability and transparency by for instance ensuring that receipts are provided for all payments made by parents and/or guardians,” it recommends.
