Wananchi Opinion: Education for all remains a pipe dream for many Kenyan children

According to the Basic Education Act 14 OF 2013, education is free and compulsory for all Kenyan children. However, a large number of children in Kenya still, education is just but a distant wish. They'd give anything to be able to sit inside a classroom and study alongside kids their own age.

According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Surveys, among children aged between 6 to 13, more than 1.5 million children and teenagers do not have access to this fundamental right. There are a variety of reasons why a good number of Kenyan children do not attend school despite the government insisting that it is free and compulsory.

Extreme poverty levels is a major problem. In all schools across the country, students are always required to get uniforms and equipment that their families cannot afford, even though the school is "open." In some cases, parents of school going children are required by school administration to pay towards provision of lunch to their children. For parents with very humble means, the financial demand for education of their children is beyond their reach and they opt to have their children drop out of school.

There are also issues to do with gender based discrimination. Male children will be educated while their female siblings will not in some parts of the country due to poverty or cultural factors. Girls are four times more likely than boys with similar backgrounds to drop out of school. The poorest girls have the lowest chances of finishing high school.

Then disabilities. There is quite a lot of social and cultural inequality. Children with disabilities are more likely than other children to miss school. One out of every three out-of-school children has a disorder, according to estimates. In Kenya, fewer than ten percent of children with disabilities attend primary school.

One cannot run away from child marriage related challenges. Early marriage and pregnancy also result in dropouts of girls from basic education institutions. If the children return to school after a failed early marriage, they will often be bullied or they just feel out of place. In Kenya, according to statistics, 4 percent of girls get married before the age of 15 and percent of boys get married before the age of 17.

Child labour also is an impediment. Many children are compelled to serve rather than attend school. Children are frequently relied upon by low-income families to supplement their income. In 2017, the International Labour Organization estimated that 152 million children in Africa, aged five to seventeen were working. Kenya is not an exemption. Many of these children may not attend school or drop out of school.

Broken families or toxic family environment also contributes towards curtailing efforts already put in place to ensure education for all is a reality. Many broken families usually result in toxic stress. Toxic stress occurs when children are exposed to elevated levels of stress for an extended period of time as a result of abuse, aggression, negligence, or deprivation. Toxic stress may have serious physical and psychological effects on children. Trauma has an effect on their desire to learn and remain in school.

For some school girls, a simple walk to school can be incredibly dangerous or intimidating. Many girls in certain geographical areas cannot freely walk to school, navigating forests for fear of being physically attacked or ssexually assaulted while on their way to school. In certain parts of the country, going to school can be a costly privilege. Many children in rural villages must make daily trips that are both impossible and risky in order to receive an education.

The government of the day needs to put in place measures to ensure that possibly all children go to school. The measures may include ending child marriage, guaranteeing security to all school going children among others.

Mr. Abol Kings is a senior Secondary School teacher in Kenya. Email: abolkings1@gmail.com