Investing in public day schools will remove need for boarding ones

My deepest sympathy to the families of those who lost loved ones following a fire at Nyeri’s Endarasha Academy. There can be no words to describe succinctly the anguish felt nor can any atone for the needless loss of lives. If anything, these deaths are a stinging indictment on the country’s education system revealing years of gross neglect and underfunding of the sector.

For starters, no child should ever be separated from their parents in their inchoate years of development. These are crucial years when values are instilled in an atmosphere of family. Yet responsibility, in these formative years, is ceded to institutions that are mostly cold, insensitive and uncaring and that more often than not, are poor substitutes for parental warmth and affection.

In countries of the Global North that are held out as the gold standard of education, boarding schools are the exception rather than the norm. Education is provided by the State rather than the private sector. In the UK, for instance, children must attend day schools that are within a three-kilometre radius from their homes. This obviates the need for costly school transport as pupils are expected to walk to school and back every day. Schools are also well-resourced so there are hardly any advantages gained or lost hopping from one institution to another.

Contrast that with the situation in Kenya. The number of public schools built over the last couple of decades is woefully inadequate in meeting the needs of a country with a fast-growing population. More than six decades after independence, many schools have no classrooms with children exposed to the elements as they learn under trees. Kenya’s current recommended teacher-student ratio is 40 students per teacher. Yet, in many primary schools, it is 70:1. This is significantly higher than the UNESCO recommended ratio of 25:1.

These statistics are what make the prospects of private schools, especially those with boarding facilities, attractive to parents. They promise quality education, nurture and a safe environment for children whose parents are unable to provide the same for some reason or other. But reality is seldom a reflection of what is advertised.

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