Unique Program Offers New Hope to Out-of-School Children in Nairobi.
Michele Anyango and her sister, Pollet Achieng, now enjoy their daily walk to school, cherishing the opportunity to learn—a stark contrast to their lives two years ago. Back then, while their peers attended school, the sisters stayed home, assisting their mother in preparing and selling mandazi, a popular Swahili bread. Michele recalls the loneliness that followed each morning of cooking and supplying mandazi, as all her friends were at school.
Today, Michele is a Grade Six student at Mowlem Superloaf Primary School in Kariobangi, Nairobi. The change in their lives came through a special school program sponsored by UNICEF and its partners. This initiative has reintroduced education into the lives of many children like Michele and Pollet, who were once out of school.
Michael Cacich, the Technical Head for Educate A Child in East and Southern Africa under the Education Above All (EAA) Foundation, explains that their mission is to provide quality primary education worldwide, especially for the hardest-to-reach out-of-school children. In Kenya, EAA has collaborated with UNICEF and the National Council for Nomadic Education in Kenya (NACONEK) to offer quality education to 250,000 marginalized children, including those with disabilities.
“Our commitment to this cause is rooted in the belief that every child deserves access to quality education, regardless of their circumstances,” Cacich emphasizes.
Another beneficiary of this program is Clare Mumbua, a Grade Six pupil. Mumbua dropped out of school in 2021 to care for her younger sibling while her mother sold avocados and tomatoes to make ends meet. The income was insufficient to support Clare’s education. Reflecting on her time out of school, Clare shares how painful it was to watch her friends attend school while she stayed home, feeling isolated and disconnected. “Being out of school made me feel like an outcast,” she says.
Today, Clare is back in school and is determined to excel. She dreams of becoming a doctor, a goal she is now working towards with renewed hope.
Mowlem Superloaf Primary School Headteacher, Wilson Irungu, notes the positive impact of the program on student enrollment. “The program has not only increased enrollment but also improved the quality of education by providing essential learning materials. Without proper supplies, students struggle to focus and engage in class,” Irungu observes.
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In the past two years, around 700 pupils have been re-enrolled in the school. During a visit by ‘Education Point,’ it was evident that students were receiving remedial and accelerated lessons to help them catch up with the syllabus. UNICEF and its partners have also supplied the school with teaching materials, such as exercise books, pencils, sharpeners, erasers, rulers, pens, and chalk, along with hardcover books to aid teachers in lesson preparation.
To ensure that out-of-school children stay in school, the program offers mentorship sessions designed to motivate and retain students. Teachers now provide psychosocial support, recognizing that trauma has hindered some children’s ability to concentrate in class.
The program’s impact extends beyond education. Headteacher Irungu highlights how it has also contributed to reducing early marriages, drug use, and crime in the community. This comprehensive approach addresses multiple aspects of the challenges faced by vulnerable children.
Unique Program Offers New Hope to Out-of-School Children in Nairobi.
Child Protection volunteer Jane Wangechi, working in Kariobangi South, attributes high school dropout rates to poverty. She points out that many children miss school due to extreme poverty, parental neglect, or substance abuse. “High dropout rates among boys are particularly concerning, as they are often lured into drug use at a young age,” Wangechi explains.
Child protection volunteers, alongside local administrators, play a crucial role in identifying out-of-school children. Through home visits and community meetings known as ‘barazas,’ they identify dropouts and the underlying causes. These sessions also provide an opportunity to educate parents about the importance of education and facilitate the re-enrollment of children into schools.
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Despite education being a fundamental right for every Kenyan child, many remain out of school due to factors like poverty, inadequate infrastructure, and cultural practices. To tackle these issues, UNICEF implemented the ‘Expansion of Operation Come-to-School’ program. This initiative aims to ensure that disadvantaged and vulnerable children, including those with disabilities, have access to quality primary education.
In partnership with the EAA Foundation’s Educate A Child program, the Kenyan government, and various NGOs, UNICEF has worked tirelessly to make this vision a reality. The program has also seen collaboration with key sectors such as the Ministry of Interior, the Department of Children Services, and the Social Protection Unit. These partnerships have implemented the Operation Come-to-School program through a multi-sectoral approach across five key outcome areas.
These areas include enhancing the capacity of parents and communities to mobilize and enroll children in school and improving access to child-friendly learning environments through infrastructure development. Teachers have received training to enhance the quality of education and create a conducive learning environment in schools. Moreover, Boards of Management and education officials have been tasked with ensuring the provision of teaching and learning materials.
The program also emphasizes the promotion of equity and role modeling through mentorship sessions and psychosocial support. A baseline survey by the Ministry of Education in 2021 across 16 targeted counties identified key barriers to education. These included poverty, long distances to schools, poor infrastructure, child labor, early marriages, and a negative attitude toward education.
The 16 counties with the highest numbers of out-of-school children were targeted by the program. These counties include Mandera, Garissa, Wajir, Tana River, Isiolo, Marsabit, Samburu, Baringo, West Pokot, Turkana, Bungoma, Narok, Kajiado, Kilifi, Kwale, and the informal settlements of Nairobi.
Cacich explains that the project has tackled financial barriers to education by providing cash transfers and covering school fees, uniforms, and transportation costs. These efforts have been crucial in supporting school attendance. Additionally, income-generating activities have empowered communities to sustainably support their children’s education.
To enhance the learning environment, the program has established child-friendly facilities by renovating classrooms, supplying low-cost boarding schools, constructing gender- and disability-sensitive latrines, installing handwashing stations, and running school health clubs.
The partnership has also collaborated with the government to review and finalize the Nomadic Education Policy, develop re-entry guidelines for learners, and support curriculum reforms. These efforts aim to ensure that all children can participate in quality education, paving the way for a brighter future for Kenyan children.
Elizabeth Waitha, an Education Officer at UNICEF Kenya, highlights the program’s focus on increasing access to equitable and inclusive quality education. “The Expansion of Operation Come-to-School program was launched in 2021 after a study revealed that at least 2.5 million school-aged children between four and 17 years were out of school,” says Waitha. The program specifically targeted 250,000 learners aged six to 13 years.
By the end of the program last year, the initiative re-enrolled over 256,000 children in school, including 17,000 learners with disabilities. To monitor attendance and ensure students remained in school, the program introduced an innovative digital tool called the Digital Attendance Application (DAA – ONEKANA).
To retain students, UNICEF and its partners, along with the Ministry of Education, trained school boards of management on developing strategic and sustainable school plans. One key sustainability strategy includes the government-led school feeding program, which plays a vital role in keeping students in school. Additionally, the program implemented a rigorous follow-up system on irregular attendance to identify the causes of truancy and prevent potential dropouts.
UNICEF also supported the Ministry of Education, through NACONEK, in revising the nomadic education policy framework to align with new legal and policy documents.
Despite the program’s success, Waitha emphasizes that further efforts are necessary to help students obtain birth certificates, which are necessary for registering in the Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS). Furthermore, implementing Inclusive Education as outlined in the Sector Policy for learners and trainees with disabilities will expand opportunities for students with disabilities to enroll in more schools.
Susan Onyango, from the Directorate of Quality Assurance and Standards at the Ministry of Education, acknowledges the significant boost the out-of-school program has given to access to quality education, particularly in slums and arid and semi-arid counties. This program has provided children in these marginalized areas with new hope, allowing them to pursue their education and build a brighter future.
Unique Program Offers New Hope to Out-of-School Children in Nairobi.
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