Free Education for Children in Kenya? A Free Education It’s Not

By Mark Hoerrner

Some parents in the U.S. pay as much as $15,000 per year for a single child to attend private school. In Kenya, the price is closer to $2,000, far out of the reach of most Kenyans who raise families on a couple of dollars a day. Until recently, even public school was costly - $150 a year – and still unattainable for the average family, especially if the family had more than one child. But recently the Kenyan government, spurred by a trend of education reform in Africa, opened up public education to all children in the country. The result has been a deluge on the system that has left education crippled and in danger of collapse.

Recent articles in the Associated Press, Reuters and a multitude of newspapers have praised the change but few estimated what the effects would be. At present, children may attend any local school they choose, but the schools face overcrowding, a lack of facilities, a lack of supplies and most importantly, a lack of teachers.

"We are trying to keep up with the demand but we’re just not turning out teachers fast enough," says Edward Mkombe, a former teacher from Kenya now living in the U.S. "Not enough people are getting to college or have the background to be able to teach. The class sizes in some schools are 100 students for every teacher and growing. Even some of the best schools in Kenya are suffering because they have had to take on so many extra students."

Not unlike the U.S., Kenya parents complain when asked to spend additional money for public education. Some schools requested as little as 1 cent from each student to help pay for cleaning supplies and parents rebelled. These supplies were supposed to be free, they said, and asking them for money was an insult.

An insult, perhaps, but possibly a necessary evil. Most schools are having to make tough choices: buy sanitary supplies or textbooks. And often, the need to present learning materials overshadows the more mundane issue of sanitation.

Still, the government remains optimistic and says that it has a plan. Margaret Thiongo is head of Nairobi’s public school system.

"We have been caught unprepared by the swell of students in the schools," she says, "but we’re not complaining. We knew there would be challenges. We are working hard to provide relief and it is coming, but it will take time."

Meanwhile, the schools are seeking creative means to juggle staff and resources to make education more viable. Some schools are shifting teachers from grade to grade to lower class sizes in one grade and increase them in another. Some are offering weekend classes at $4 per month. Test scores from some of the highest-ranked schools are slipping, but most administrators hope that this is a temporary issue.

Whatever the case, the Kenyan government says it made the right decision.

"Education belongs to every child, regardless of economics," Thiongo says.