“Are our Children Learning?” The Blue Pill on Kenyan Education

  “Are our Children Learning?” The Blue Pill on Kenyan Education

“You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”- Morpheus

To some, the Uwezo Kenya findings are little more than another damning office report written by people who do not teach. However, such distinct disparities between our imagined ideal and educational realities are springing up that we cannot afford to ignore them. Let’s take a second look at this report, and use it to improve what we give our children as education.

What exactly did the report find?
-11% of class eight children cannot do class two level division work.

-50% Classes Four and Five children can’t comprehend stories written for class two pupils.

-Teacher absenteeism is still high as in a day an average of 10% of the teachers are not in school with Narok leading with 21% and Nairobi coming second with 17%
-The average number of pupils in classes one to eight is 64, which is higher than the 40 recommended by the Ministry of Education.

-Private schools do more teaching and offer better learning than public schools

-Children in public schools also continue to lack basic facilities, including toilets, clean drinking water and sanitary towels, with only four out of 10 schools providing sanitary towels to the young ladies.

(Please read more from this report on: www.uwezo.net)

Basically, according to this report, the majority of our school going children is not getting basic literacy and numeracy competencies at the right age, in the right classes.

Where do you come in?

“Knowledge is Power” is what we are often told. However, the seed of knowledge does not magically germinate into some super-power tree. It has to be planted within the right environment and watered with hard work. Knowledge becomes power only when you leverage it to change the situation.
In the Matrix (1999), one of my favorite movies, Neo faced a similar choice: to take the blue pill and continue living in a make-believe world designed to imprison him, or to take the red pill and try change the world.  He chose to act against the mediocrity.
In Kenya- our blue pill is inaction. We can choose to live with a status quo where our schools are suffering. We can choose to believe that because we are powerless, or we have better things to do, we should leave all the work of saving the situation to policy makers and teachers. However, is this all we can and should do?

What would it take to help?

To help the students who are lagging behind, we need courageous, selfless people who will take the red pill. A red pill-taker will volunteer to tutor the kids, and work one-on-one with them till their grades improve. A red pill volunteer will step in to cover for teachers’ absences, and a red pill school will hold teachers accountable for every hour of learning they waste with their absence. A red pill volunteer can help grade class work, homework and share classroom responsibilities with the teacher. The red pill, simply put, is a choice to help.

What will happen when I choose the red pill?

You will meet and work with other passionate, driven young people who are committed to making a difference in the education sector. You will have fun, and grow a vibrant, enriching environment. You will learn how to share life and wisdom with young students in schools in rural and slum areas. You will have the satisfaction of having made a difference. Are you ready to join PACE and take the red pill? https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDNwaEtSQ1pVRHV4Rm5aVGQwcUxIZGc6MA#gid=0

Learn more about us:
http://www.pacekenya.or.ke/ or our blog: http://pacemakingadifference.blogspot.com/

Chris' Story

Chris  having fun with students from North Highridge Primary

When my friend Peggy, the fearless leader and founder of PACE, invited me to come to Kenya, I was elated. I almost immediately said yes but thoughts of my undergraduate thesis made me hesitate. I let some time fly by until Peggy contacted me again and asked me for a reply and this time I had ready an emphatic YES! Over the month of January, Peggy provided me with the grounds to do all the touristy things in Kenya like go on a safari and drink lots of Kenyan tea, but most importantly she also opened up to me the world of PACE.

I must admit that my first day at North Highridge Primary School was filled with ups and downs. The welcoming atmosphere at the school made me feel secure in my volunteering. I was impressed by the vigour of the students and their willingness to learn. All the children were well behaved and provided much joy when they would call me by name and answer my questions. On the converse, I was very nervous about the world I had just entered. The children had more enthusiasm for learning than I had ever known beforehand. In my home state of Michigan in the center of the United States, most children don’t come to school super excited to learn day after day for one reason or another, and the overwhelming fear that I couldn’t promote more excitement for learning than the children had already enveloped me. After all, isn’t an educator’s job to leave the pupils more excited about a subject after a lesson than they were before?

So, I took a night to think over my day. My eureka moment hit me when I thought back to all the volunteering I had done in the past. My memories comforted me as I remembered the students’ eyes when I spoke to them. I suddenly realized that my doubts about myself served no purpose in their world. All I had to do was impart the knowledge I had gained from those wiser than me and everything would work out. I simply needed to stand before the students, guide their thoughts to completion, and absorb the positive energy from their grins. I’m glad I came to that conclusion early on in my stay!

The students’ positivity and zest for learning only made me a stronger educator than before. I honestly believe I gained more from the students than they did from me. I gained acceptance from my students on two fronts: as a foreigner and as a new educating presence in their classroom. I am proud to have contributed three weeks of my life to PACE. I learnt a lot about educating the youth in Kenya and I made some new friends along the way. Thank you, PACE!
(Chris, USA)

Meet Pauline..

Pauline Muthoni holds a  Bachelor of Commerce and Business Administration (Marketing) from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology . She also holds a diploma in Purchasing and Supplies Management from Graffins College and is a member of The Kenya Institute of Supplies Management. Pauline has worked in the service industry and also in FMCG at operations and management levels and  uses her background and networks from the corporate sector to build the capacity of women and youth. A firm believer in continuous personal development, Pauline actively seeks opportunities for growth for herself and those around her. She currently mentors at Akili Dada and is herself being mentored through the Cherie Blair Foundation for women. She serves  as Director of  Development and Mentoring   at PACE

Introduction to Uhuru Primary School, Buruburu on Wed 12th June 2013

Together, we can make a difference 

I looked forward to this introduction to Uhuru Primary School. This was no ordinary school visit for me because I knew that Uhuru Primary would most probably be the school where I would end up serving as a TA.

At Uhuru Primary:

After meeting up with the other members of the PACE team in town, we travelled to the school. I must admit that I was somewhat anxious about the experience we (I) would have – what would be the students’ reception and attitude towards the whole thing? To make matters worse, there was a unanimous vote (which is very common with the PACE team, haha) to have me lead the visiting team in the classroom activity.

In class:

The students were more disciplined than the teacher, MR Luso, gave them credit for. The whole class was attentive and very cooperative. We did not struggle to get answers for our questions or questions from our lesson. I was surprised by how fast the forty minutes flew. Had the bell not rang; we would have extended our session up to lunch time.

Lesson learnt:

Well, this is more of a reminder: Fears are overcome by confronting them, rather than by avoiding them.

I look forward to being back at Uhuru primary, to stay. I thank God.

After Uhuru Primary:

The visit to Strong Bright Preparatory school was a good one too. I was challenged to rethink; how far out of my comfort zone I am willing to go for the sake of others.

As we left this school, a couple of ideas were raised on how PACE can contribute to the school’s welfare.