We are still waiting for the political/peace talks to reach a conclusion which is frustrating for so many people here. The price of food here has gone up considerably and the two lovely ladies from Western Kenya who work in our house have political chats every morning over the washing up when they come in. Sadly, I can’t follow what they are saying because they speak in their tribal language rather than Swahili – but I do hear the words ‘Raila’ and ‘PNU’ and I know that they are back on the old subject again.
One of the ladies told me today that the secondary school system is in complete chaos following the Government’s election pledge to offer free secondary education for all. Many parents have switched their kids over from the private to the state system, only to find that it is the same cost, if not more expensive due to the fact that the schools have not yet got the Government funding that has been promised.
Following an unhappy time at her old school after tribal tensions running high, her daughter made the switch from private to state school. Our housekeeper then paid the required fees (which ended up being the same as at the previous private school) and her daughter is going to the new school each day, but still being denied access to the classroom, having been told:
‘We don’t accept kids who have switched from the private system to the state one.’
The crux of the matter seems to be that the state school have taken fees from more kids than they can physically cope with.
Also she is being asked for an extra fee because her grades fall below an imagined threshold. Our housekeeper feels that this is blatant corruption and fears that her child (albeit she is now 19 years old and desperately trying to finish her education) is being victimised on a tribal basis as it’s a Kikuyu run school. Options for schooling are now running out and she is considering trying to get her money back from the state school in Nairobi and then sending her daughter back to Western Kenya to stay with relatives, so that she has a better chance of getting a hassle free secondary education.
Sadly, I’m not sure if she will have much luck up there either. Many schools have already been so disrupted by the displacement of teachers and students and vandalism of the schools themselves and now they are failing to get promised Government funding to subsidise free tutorial fees. Many doubt that the Government have enough money to offer free secondary education, as it doesn’t have the donor backing that the scheme for free primary schools did. University lecturers have been appealing for assurances of personal security before going back to work. It's such a struggle for people to just get an education.
While things are still so very much up in the air between the Government and Opposition party, the simmering tribal tension will go on.
The diary of a British expat living in Kenya. News, views, debate and a healthy dose of trivia.
"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest."
ReplyDeleteWinston Churchill said that about Russia in 1939 and I feel the same can be said about politicians everywhere except take out the national interest part and put in personal interest.
Good quote! And thanks for reading and writing lots of comments too - much appreciated! We are all still on tenterhooks over how things will turn out here in Kenya, but the waiting goes on. Poor old Kofi Annan
ReplyDeleteLady please do some research on the education system before you write about it,The kenyan secondary school admission is grade basedand very competitive.Selection is done at form one level.It is not possible to move back and forth between private and publc schools. one must first meet the grade requirements for a particular school before admission and different schools have different cut off points. someone iis not being very truthful here!
ReplyDeleteI admit that I am not an expert on the Kenyan secondary school system, but I still fail to understand why it is not possible to move from the private to the public system, when part of Kibaki's election campaign promise was FREE SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ALL KENYANS!
ReplyDeleteIt is understandable and a fact that many, many people have tried to move across from the private to the public secondary system in order to have reduced school fees thanks to government subsidies; only to find that on arrival they are being asked for the full amount of school fees paid in advance of each term with the vague possibility of the school handing out refunds when it finally receives its government funding.
I don't think that grades were the key issue in this case as the child in question had more than adequate ones. My friend said many others switched their children from the private to public system in her area at the beginning of this term and their children were admitted into the state school successfully. The reason they achieved this, seemed to be based on the personal contacts that the parents had within the school staff members.
The reasons that my friend wanted to move her daughter were:
1.She hoped for free secondary education for her daughter as the government promised.
2. Her daughter was being bullied and threatened at her private school along tribal lines following the election.
3. Many of the staff at the private school left following the upheaval of the December election and have not yet returned, so there are real problems of under staffing that don't seem to be addressed.
My friend's daughter has now travelled to Kitale, to stay with relatives and has been admitted to the local state secondary school, where yesterday she happily completed her first proper day of schooling since December.