How we help our students focus on studying

Many secondary school students in Kenya are always figuratively looking over their shoulder. They’re worried. And this interferes with their ability to study.

What are they concerned about? Well, I’ll tell you.

It’s about the money

Secondary school in Kenya isn’t free. The government in Nairobi has come a long way in supporting public education. First, they made elementary school freely available, although there is still great variability in the quality of what’s offered. Now, secondary school is, as one principal told, me, “mostly free.” The government supports secondary schools, but the money made available isn’t sufficient to cover all costs.

So, schools tack on extra fees to cover their costs. And there are more expenses: for uniforms, textbooks, equipment such as pens, paper and geometrical sets, lunches, trips… and the list goes on.

The fear of being “sent home for fees”

Many students I’ve met talked about the fear and dread they experience when they know that their school fees haven’t been paid. Being called to the principal’s office – not for a disciplinary infraction, but because of unpaid fees – is scary. Being “sent home for fees” is a cause for fear, shame and embarrassment for many students. They’re sent home, but as they walk home alone, they’re well aware that if there was money at home to pay those fees, they’d already be paid. So their request for fees is often met with defensive anger by their parent or guardian.

Many of our students are orphans or with only one parent, perhaps being raised by an uncle, aunt or a grandparent, and any income may be stretched to meet the needs of several children.

Not making the grade … in appearance

Lack of money also shows up regarding appearance, and I asked one of our graduated students, who comes from a poor family, what that’s like.

She said that in some cases, families can’t afford a “proper” uniform that’s durable and well made. So they’ll substitute with low-quality alternatives that look okay when newly bought, but the material and seam tear easily and don’t stay presentable for long.

Some students only have one, maybe two changes of uniform. Speaking as someone with ready access to a washer and dryer that has the job done in under an hour, it didn’t occur to me that this would be a big problem. But my informant reminded me that most of our students need to wash their clothing by hand and then air-dry it. If they wash their uniform in the evening, there is little chance it will be dry by morning, particularly during rainy season.

As a result, students from poor families undergo ridicule from their peers. And in many cases, they can’t pass the eagle eyes of Kenyan principals and schoolteachers. Kenyans take great pride in their appearance, and these lessons are instilled from an early age, partly through the school system.

So, what happens? “You become a ghost,” my informant said. You hide at the back of the classroom and try to avoid being noticed. You don’t participate in class discussions. You don’t talk with the teacher at all.

It can also mean that students from poor families often get sent home from school, for not keeping up the required appearances. This is as painful as you might imagine – they’re missing out on schooling, they suffer ostracising from their peers, and it damages their self-esteem. And they know that when they get home, it’s unlikely that a new uniform will have materialized in their absence. They may dread going back to school the next day, hoping that the school staff will be more lenient. Because of the need to keep up the school’s appearances, that is rarely the case.

How your CES donations help change students’ lives

In researching the book “Under the Acacia Tree” I talked with many students and graduates who spoke movingly about what it meant to be sponsored by CES. They no longer had a fear of being sent home for fees, pulled aside because they didn’t have an appropriate uniform, were unable to join their friends for lunch, or were unable to study due to hunger. Instead, they could participate in class, focus on their studies, and build a brighter future.

Your donations to CES help make that brighter future happen for many more young people in Kenya.