Musau Ndunda: A voice for parents in education

By Brenda Kageni

Watching Musau Ndunda talk, I am tempted to ask him whether he ever considered a career behind a Pentecostal church pulpit. The power and passion with which the Secretary General of the Kenya National Association of Parents (Knap) speaks can only be compared to that of a ‘fire and brimstone’ street preacher. The maroon curtain forming the backdrop in his office doesn’t help dispel the image either.

Ndunda (left) and his wife Dorcas Musau pose with their son, Moses, at his graduation from JKUAT last year.

Ndunda first went public with his educational advocacy during the October 1997 teachers’ strike that left children out of school for several weeks just prior to national examinations.

"When our children were at home suffering, who was talking on their behalf? Founding the organisation came out of a need — the government was formulating policies without the participation of parents."

Ndunda called a meeting of committee members representing the interest of parents from over 40 districts. The first meeting had a turnout of 1,500 people. They agreed to form an association that would look into the issues of parents and children in schools.

In May 1998, Knap was formed to act as the umbrella body for all Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs), Boards of Governors (BoGs) and school management committees in the country with a mandate to sharpen educational policies. Ndunda, the mastermind behind the association, became its de facto leader. In 2003, when the association held its first national elections, he was elected Secretary General.

Ndunda’s drive to start the parents’ association was partly driven by a void he noticed in the current Education Act that does not recognise parents.

"When the Act came into force, the Government was in charge of every aspect of education. When the economy did badly in 1988, donors called for structural adjustments that saw the introduction of cost sharing. This introduced fees and levies. However, no law was developed on this, only a policy, session paper 68 of 1988."

Ndunda greets President Kibaki at a past function.

While the Government had retained BoG’s to manage schools, a section of that policy, encouraged the formation of parents’ organisations at schools and at the national level, which would look into the area of funds and standards improvement.

When Ndunda came across the document, he knew immediately that there was nothing stopping him from forming a national association of parents.

"If the Government itself had approved, what were we waiting for? They were appointing people that were not parents to run schools. We are on a crusade to tell parents that we must own schools. People elected by parents need to head schools."

New Education Bill

The new Education Bill yet to be tabled in Parliament makes the association a sort of supervisory body for schools and mandates that the association have representatives on school boards.

"Our children are paying school fees. The new law gives us power to decide where our money goes. It is giving us teeth to fight those people who are out to exploit parents. Our role will be to issue guidelines."

Ndunda says that the core business of the association is to sharpen educational policy in Kenya, with the help of parents.

"The Ministry of Education lacks core policies. Any policy that might be in place is half-baked and has no basis in law. It is, therefore, not binding to anybody. The ministry does not want to create a legal framework to ensure they are implemented. Our work is to remind them of their good policies."

Ndunda points out policies developed to deal with unrest in schools.

"These policies have been gathering dust in ministry offices, but when a strike recurs, everyone switches to emergency mode like it was something new."

Ndunda blames last year’s strikes on the ministry.

"Strikes in schools are a business. Last year’s chaos was caused by the ministry, not the schools. After the strikes of 2001, the Government came up with a policy document that has never been taken up by Parliament."

Knap employs policy analysts who identify gaps in the education sector then lobby the government to either change, implement or abandon policies.

However, the Association is keen not to have any political influence.

"We are very keen — we know schools can be hijacked by politicians. We are a non-political organisation. If you have political ambitions, you are kicked out," Ndunda says.

Personal background

Ndunda is no stranger to the education system in Kenya — he was once a teacher and is a parent of five children most of who are between primary school and university.

Ndunda grew up in Machakos, where his family resides and where his wife runs a business, but went to school in Nairobi. He did his "O" and "A" levels at the Nairobi Technical School before joining the University of Nairobi in 1978 for a degree in education.

He taught for a while before quitting to join a commercial firm for a short stint. He then joined the accounting world but left in 1985 to become a businessman, until he joined Knap, a full-time job.