Some of the girls studying under a tree in Mtwapa, Kilif County. [Jeckonia Otieno, Standard]
Every day for the last two months, a group of primary school girls have been meeting under a tree in Mtwapa, Kilifi County, with one mission – to study.
It all started as an idea among four of the 15 girls at the beginning of August and has seen the numbers grow for the sessions held thrice a week. The girls are drawn from Standard Five to Eight.
As Covid-19 swept across the country and paralysed the education sector, most students have had no opportunity for learning and are only waiting for schools to reopen.
But for Rukia Omar, 16, and her friends, free time presented an opportunity.
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“I discussed with my grandmother and decided to look for my friends so that we could study together and she agreed that we could be meeting here,” says Rukia.
Her grandmother, Mwanasiti Jumaa, a community health volunteer, says this was an opportunity they could not bypass, considering the long period the children have stayed at home.
Social distance
Most of the girls are pupils of the nearby Mtwapa Primary School. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday they meet and form two groups for morning and afternoon sessions.
The first session meets from 9am to noon while the second group meets from 2pm. The girls say they formed the two groups to avoid a large number meeting at the same time to maintain social distance between them.
“In every session, Classes Five and Six study together as do Classes Seven and Eight,” says Rukia. The girls mostly study on their own.
However, they have a peer teacher – a Form Three student at Mtwapa Secondary School – who comes in to help them any challenges.
Esther Katana, the ‘teacher’, says she decided to help the younger girls because she understands well the challenges girls face while out of school.
“An idle mind is the devil’s workshop and girls are always in danger of violence, including sexual violence, and engaging in early sex, which may result in diseases and unwanted pregnancies. Here, the girls make good use of their time,” says Katana, who incidentally wants to study teaching when she leaves high school.
Reluctant parents
The girls’ parents were reluctant at first to release them for the group discussions, fearing they would engage in illicit sexual behaviours. Kilifi County recorded 300 cases of teenage pregnancies between March and May, according to county government records.
Katana says some of the girls sometimes miss the lessons during menstruation due to lack of sanitary towels. They girls also lack instructional materials such as books.
“We also need sanitisers because we are still conscious about the fact that Covid-19 is spreading and we would like to be on the watch,” says Tatu Said, a Standard Eight pupil.
