Time to repay rural Kenya’s investment in education

Moses Kuria

Every year, from sleepy villages and townships throughout rural Kenya, some peasant farmers journey to Nairobi, Juja, Njoro, Eldoret and Maseno to witness their children receive coveted degrees from private and public universities.

These graduation ceremonies are marked with pomp and make the fortunate parents the envy of entire villages. Photos taken with distant cousins will be hung in every corner of the homestead but the kraal, where only a rickety cow remains because healthy ones don’t survive graduates. Most are sold to supplement the loan from the Higher Education Loans Board!

Government spends Sh250 billion on education each year. Parents chip in with another Sh150 billion. Rural areas contribute the bulk of the Sh400 billion. But as soon as academic kings and queens graduate, they kiss good-bye to rural life and settle in urban areas, never to return to the villages.

This smells highly fraudulent.

Years ago, we were crying about a ‘brain drain’ when referring to people who chose to remain in the West (and rarely the East) after completing their overseas studies. Over time, they were christened the ‘Diaspora’ and became heroes because they were our largest ‘donors’, contributing over $1 billion every year to our economy.

Whilst the Diaspora has managed to redeem itself, most professionals continue to be a major drain on rural Kenya. It is incomprehensible why rural areas continue to be misused. Why invest billions to create professionals who migrate to Urban Kenya?

It is not too late for professionals, entrepreneurs and academics to turn around the investment committed to them. Investing in rural areas will not only give good returns, it will also create jobs for the youth. Rather than moan incessantly about politicians who have messed up our country, professionals should do something for those that invested in them.

The writer is the Secretary General at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.