Weighing schooling options: Homeschooling or classroom

By Nanjinia Wamuswa

The distinction between ‘home’ and ‘school’ is ordinarily quite clear. Learners in various levels of the knowledge chain, from baby class to university, usually leave ‘home’ for ‘school’ then return to the latter after various intervals of conquering ignorance — or kufukuza ujinga as many Nairobians say.

But for some in the city, the distinction between the two is non-existent. They swear by a system where learners of all ages are taught at home under the supervision of their parents, guardians or hired experts rather than going to formal school. Homeschooling, once a foreign concept, seems to be gaining ground in Nairobi.  

Caren Wangare started teaching her two children at home in 2005 because she thought the quality of education in public schools had gone down after the introduction of the Free Primary Education programme. 

 “Overcrowding has hindered quality education, while good private schools are too expensive,” she says.

Although she lauds homeschooling for being affordable, she warns that it is not easy.

“You need a lot of patience to spend even a whole day with children,” she says.

Caren got her children out of kindergarten and decided to teach them at home. She believes they are now better off.

Mary Muriuki, founder and executive director of Elimu Nyumbani, an NGO that supports homeschooling, says the benefits outweigh the risks. Mary, who has practiced homeschooling for 15 years, says it cannot be described as a new concept since it was the original form of education  in pre-colonial Kenya before the missionaries started formal schools.

To show its growing appeal, Mary says Kenya hosts an annual homeschooling conference organised by the East Africa Community of Homeschoolers. She, however, admits there is no reliable data on the prevalence of homeschooling.

Mary’s quibble with the school-based education system is that learners spend too much time studying academic subjects to make the grade and pass exams.

“When you emphasise to children that the goal of education is to get high marks to secure prestigious jobs, aren’t you teaching them to pursue materialism, which will never satisfy their thirst for knowledge?” she poses, adding that education should develop a learner holistically.

Irene Tongoi, founder of New Dawn, an initiative involved in mentoring teens on behaviour, lauds homeschooling saying parents spend more time with their children and form deep and lasting family relationships resulting in a strong bond of love and trust.

Irene also believes that through homeschooling parents and guardians are in a good position to protect young minds from negative influences outside the home.

She, however, warns that homeschooling is not for everyone because it requires an extraordinary level of commitment.

“If parents don’t get out of their comfort zones to learn how to homeschool effectively it will fail and discourage them,” she warns.

She advises that there is need to regularly organise play groups and interaction from all quarters for young learners to grow mentally, physically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually.

“Schools produce students who abuse drugs and alcohol. There’s also an increase in violence promiscuity and other vices. Besides, there are so many strikes that cause disruptions,” claims a parent who teaches her two children at home. She, however, did not want to be named to protect the identity of her sons.

Mary gives a broad view of how homeschooling works. Learning starts at any age, including targeting children as young as six month using educational toys. Later they use libraries, computers, books, maps, charts, pictures, craft, audios, DVDs and videos.

Parents can rely on the 8-4-4, foreign curricula, or create their own based on various sources, some available online.

Group learning is also done by putting together those with common strands, including learning levels or curricula.

These groups are involved in academic and non-academic activities such as annual conferences, field trips, talks, farming, sports, arts and craft, music, language and social gatherings.

To grade performance, some parents enrol their children as private candidates in formal systems to sit for national exams. Mary reveals that from experience homeschooling children have done well in national exams, and also excel after school.

Some parents design the child’s education to take advantage of their interests, pace and learning style. They then grade them with issuance of diplomas, which are accepted in foreign countries like America, Australia, Canada and United Kingdom.

Advocates of homeschooling in Nairobi think those that attend formal schools grow in an “artificial world” because they are confined to classrooms most of the year. Homeschooling, they say, provides an opportunity to interact with adults and people from various age groups in the real world.

They further argue that in the rigid formal system young children are placed in school before they are developed, leading to lifelong peer pressure and control.

But Dr Joseph Muleka, a sociologist at the University of Nairobi, says the limits of homeschooling outweigh its merits.

Even though he says it gives each learner individual attention, the scholar believes that young minds develop better in a formal school setting where they interact with others.

“Teaching at home should be done in extra time, especially during holidays, in specific subjects where the learner is weak,” he says, adding that even in developed countries where homeschooling is well-developed, families concentrate on specific areas. Joseph sees government reluctance to fully recognise homeschooling may be informed by the thinking that learners should socialise in the school setting. 

“We are likely to raise individualist or introvert society who cannot appreciate the background of the others. The government’s idea of education is based on a collective curriculum that looks to the public and private school system as one of the pillars upon which to build a mindset and attitudes necessary for a cohesive nation,” he says.

He thinks, for example, that the social skills of American pop star Michael Jackson were affected because “his father wanted him to learn as an individual but he ended up missing social interaction with his peers.”

However, Mary says it is a misconception that homeschooled children are isolated from society and do not socialise. She says those that opt for homeschooling are   actively involved in activities, involving charity or sports, that require interacting with people from all walks of life and a variety of age settings.

“Parents also provide their children with rich and varied opportunities, including networking groups, or special classes like music and drama among others,” she says. She, however, says there is sometimes a “minor challenge” of finding those with who one’s child can build quality relationships, especially in group learning. “It is not easy as homeschoolers are scattered in different places. It is also a challenge finding suitable persons to teach areas in which you are not knowledgeable,” she says.  The homeschooling fraternity, including organisation’s such as Mary’s and Irene’s, has been lobbying for recognition but the government continues to snub their appeal, without issuing reasons

According to Ministry of Education and High Education Science and Technology, Sessional Paper Number 14 of 2012, education and training is governed and managed by the national and county governments.

The structure of the education system is also clearly set such that basic education covers two years of pre-school, eight years in primary, four years in secondary and at least four years in university (or less in middle level institutions). The policy and legal requirement for free and compulsory education in public schools also infers that homeschooling may be on the margin of the law. 

Irene of New Dawn sees the government’s reluctance to recognise homeschooling as depriving parents of their right to determine the kind of education their children should receive.

For now, it seems Nairobi’s homeschooling community still has a lot of work to do in convincing family, friends and the government that the option is as good as the formal school system.