Public Primary Schools

A couple of weeks ago, an American couple (Loy and Joyce) came to ANU from Independence, MO to teach teachers during the next semester.  They are both retired educators, and newlyweds even though they are in their 70’s. Loy was here last year, and this is Joyce’s first time.  They are a delightful couple and much more adventurous than most their age.  They decided to come to ANU a little prior to the beginning of the semester so that they could experience more of Kenya.  We have already introduced them to tuk-tuks, matatus, and even a birthday party in a Kenyan family’s home.  Since they are educators, they also wanted to visit a local public primary school. As I have become friends with many of the local kids during my runs, and most of these attend public schools, I suggested that we should visit the primary school over in Twala (a village that I run through frequently around 3km from campus).  As I have written about in the past, I am friends with a family of 5 little girls that all go to this school, and I asked them if it was alright for us to visit.  All of them said “Welcome!” and were excited for us to visit.  So, on a dry afternoon last week, we walked along dirt paths and roads until we made it to the school. 


Clara (on the left) and her friend

When we were almost there, we heard a small voice from quite a distance calling my name.  When we turned around, we saw that it was Clara (the youngest of the five girls – age 5) running toward us.  We later learned that the young kids get out earlier than the older kids, and she typically just hangs around the town of Twala until her older sisters get out of class so that they can all walk home together (a distance of around 5km or 3 miles).  She walked with us to the school and showed us where to get through the barbed wire fence.

Oloosirkon Primary School

Once we got inside, we quickly found the office of the “Head Teacher”, and were warmly welcomed by him.  Loy had quite a chuckle when the Head Teacher asked another teacher to bring Loy a chair and she returned with a chair that was missing a leg!  Once they found proper chairs for them, Loy and Joyce had quite a discussion with him comparing the American school system to that in Kenya.  I played with the kids in the yard, but did manage to hear that each class is around 20-30 pupils, and the whole school had around 220 kids.  They also have year round school (something I know is often debated in America). 

Standard 6 - Which one is not like the others?

He then took us to meet the students.  He started us with Standard 8 (i.e. 8^th Grade).  In America, kids in a certain grade are all within a year or two of each other.  However, in Kenya, it is much more difficult to say how old kids are in a certain Standard.  This is because kids start at different ages, and they must pass certain exams before they can begin Standard 1.  If they don’t pass the exams, they just stay at the same level for another year and take the exams again.  So, the kids in Standard 8 ranged from around 10-15.  Standard 8 is also the last level before they take exams to see if they can make it into secondary school.  If they do not pass the exams, and most do not, they are finished with school and enter the workforce.  However, if they do pass the exams, they enter secondary school where they must pay substantially more for schooling.  Hence, many poor families that have bright children still can’t send them to get an education beyond Standard 8.  The government is supposed to be helping with this problem, but like many other things in Kenya’s government, corruption is a real issue, and funds do not always end up where they are supposed to. 

Standard 8

Anyway, when we entered the Standard 8 classroom, I was surprised by its simplicity.  Now I probably shouldn’t have been since the school itself and the Head Teacher’s office were nothing more than cinderblocks, but I was.  There was little on the walls except a blackboard at the front of the room (no chalk or erasers could be found), and there were rows of benches with attached desks.  No electricity.  No running water.  There was no teacher and the kids were working quietly at their desks.  When we entered and the Head Teacher said “Good afternoon, children”, they all stood up and in unison said “Good afternoon, Sir”. 

Joyce's string tricks were a hit!

Loy, Joyce, and I just stood there waiting for an introduction or something when the Head Teacher leaned over to me and said they were waiting for me to say hello.  So, after I said “Hello, children”, they all said (in unison again), “Good afternoon, Sir.  Welcome to our school!”  Loy and Joyce did the same and we each explained who we were and what we are doing in Kenya.  They all smiled and laughed as Joyce did some silly string tricks that made it look like she was cutting her head off with a piece of string! We then went to 3 or 4 lower Standard classes where we repeated the same stories. 

I enjoyed being able to see the other 4 sisters that I am friends with in their classrooms, and had a lot of fun playing with them in the front yard after school let out.  We played in this well looking thing that no one knew what it was for.  Probably a project that was started by a group, but never completed.  Once all the girls were out, we started walking home with them. 

The fruit stand

On the way, we purchased some mangos for the girls to eat at a fruit stand.  I had seen them stop here before to get mangos and they had told me that it was a real treat for them when their mom had money (each mango was around $0.05), but that it did not happen very often. 





On the way back, a little boy (Lanto) also joined us on our walk.  He was probably no more than 3 years old, and really took a liking to Loy.  Although he did not say a word (he only spoke Swahili), he held Loy’s hand the whole way home until he left us to finish his walk home. 

Loy and Lanto

The three of us were amazed that a child that young had to walk to and from school all by himself a distance of 4 miles each way!  We finally made it back and said goodbye to the girls and Lanto.  We were filthy from all of the dirt, and the kids looked much better than we did!

The differences in resources between American and Kenyan public schools that we saw was dramatic, and made the complaints that we often make about our system seem so petty.    After our visit, we are all much more appreciative of what we have in America public schools.  While we were there, we were invited back.  So, we’ll be returning April 11 to help plant some trees in the front of the school.  Should be a lot of fun, especially now that the rainy season has finally begun!