Kenya gained independence from Great Britain in 1963 and today is a multi-party democracy. The official language of Kenya is English, with Kiswahili being the National Language that is meant to unite the 42 distinct tribes (ethnicities) that populate the country. Despite being surrounded by warring nations on all sides, Kenya has managed to remain peaceful. With 42 different tribes that each have a unique culture, it’s a wonder how they co-exist harmoniously. Kenyans also work hard. Although their labor is not in most cases fairly rewarded, they keep on. Hoping that things will turn out well.
Like many African countries, Kenya is faced with a multitude of problems. These range from political, social, economic to environmental. Resources are scarce and finite and lack of proper planning, allocation or prioritization compounds all these problems.
Maasai people
World Bank Statistics 2009
Population: 39.8 million
GDP : $29.4 Billion
Per capita income: $738/yr
Life Expectancy: 54.9 years
HIV Prevalence: 6.3%
Traditional Practices
Some of our socio-cultural practices are a hindrance to development. In some communities, for example, the education of the girl child is not a priority. It is assumed that they will be married off and hence no need wasting resources on them. In others, especially the pastoralist cultures, only the boys who cannot look after cattle are sent to school. Again, some pastoralists like the Maasai, Samburu, Turkana and Pokots are nomads. They have no permanent homestead. Some of the communities take their girl children from school to marry them to old men. A girl as young as 13 years is married to an old man (mzee) of 60 years or more.
Poverty
Unemployment is on the increase and consequently poverty is rising. At present, 56% of Kenyans live below the poverty line. They earn less than a dollar a day and can hardly afford basic needs like food, health care, shelter and in some cases even water. Many people, especially those living in the rural areas, spend most of their time looking for these necessities. This leaves them with no time for other economic activities, hence sinking them deeper into poverty.
Natural Calamities
Kenya is also not spared by natural calamities. Our country is an agricultural country and most of our economy stems from Agriculture. It should be noted however that small-scale farmers control 80% of all agriculture. They practice and use traditional farming methods and totally depend on rainfall and good weather. They are either not knowledgeable on modern farming methods and cash crop farming, or cannot afford them. So it is always catastrophic when the rains fail. There lacks also financial institutions to support the farmers and probably market their farm produce for them. Currently, there are some areas in Kenya that have not received any rainfall for many years. People in these areas depend on relief food from the government.
HIV/AIDS
Like most of the sub-Saharan countries Kenya is really feeling the effects of HIV/AIDS. Over 2 million people are infected and 200,000 have already died. Almost every family unit is affected. A member has been lost or is infected. This has greatly destabilized or weakened the family unit since those mostly infected are bread winners or the active members of their families. Consequently, the number of orphans is on the increase. This further weakens the already weak economic status. Anti-retro virals (ARVs) and health care systems are not readily available for some. With drugs and care it is possible to prolong the lives of those infected in order to delay orphan-hood and allow these people to provide for their people for longer.
Casualties
It is painfully worth noting that those mostly affected by all these compounded problems are the children, especially the school going ones. When the families are displaced for whatever reason, their school is interrupted. When the rains fail, they cannot go to school since they would not learn when they are hungry. Others drop out of school to take care of their siblings when their parent(s) die. When the family income drops, the school expense is the first to do away with.
Free Education
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Kenya#Secondary_EducationPrior to 2003, school was a big burden to many Kenyan parents. Actually many children of school-going age were out of school. That is why president Kibaki’s NARC party swept itself to power in 2002 by promising to make primary education free from grades K thru 8. True to their promise primary education was made free giving rise to other problems that the government had not anticipated. First, over 2 million children joined the primary schools. The schools were overwhelmed since the classrooms were not expanded or added. Teachers were few and there were no desks or chairs for the newly enrolled students. Basically all limits were stretched. Some classes still have over 100 pupils. The teacher-student ratio was too big it did not make sense. The crisis lasted for a few weeks but finally the dust settled. The problems have never been solved to date. Then after realizing that the quality offered in the public schools was low, some parents transferred their children to private primary schools.
As of now these private primary schools have more children than they did before the free primary education. This is where people can find uncompromised quality education for their children. In the public primary schools, pupils still sit on the floor or learn under trees. In other schools the teacher cannot master all their faces due to their great numbers. Maybe the situation will come to improve when the government expands the facilities and employs more teachers, though as to when is highly debatable. Most likely not in the near future.
The secondary schools are by far much fewer than the primary schools. Many parents wonder where they will take their children after primary school. Others highly question the quality of education offered in these public schools. As they say, even dirty water can quench your thirst, any education is better than more. They let their children continue in the public schools due to lack of options. They make do with what they are provided.
