This archive report was first published on 8 May 2020.
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to ravage the country, private schools in Kenya have been forced to adapt to a new reality: empty accounts. In a bid to stay afloat, these institutions have turned to virtual learning, but at what cost to parents and learners?
According to a recent report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, only one in five Kenyans have access to the internet, making virtual learning a luxury only the wealthiest can afford. The National ICT Survey Report (2018) by the Communication Authority and the KNBS further highlights the digital divide in Kenya, where employment and household size determine household disposable income, which in turn affects access to ICT equipment.
Private schools, in their quest to keep up with the times, have imposed astronomical fees for virtual learning on parents, who are already struggling to make ends meet. The case of Brookhouse School, which demanded a 90% school fees payment from parents for online learning, is a stark example of the frustrations many parents are facing. Fortunately, the parents fought back, suing the school and winning a reduction in fees by half.
While the Competency-Based Curriculum, subscribed to by most schools in Kenya, emphasizes the importance of parental involvement in a learner's success, the top-down approach to imposing virtual learning classes on parents is a far cry from this ideal. Parents are being forced to adapt to a new reality, with many struggling to balance work and family responsibilities, let alone provide the necessary infrastructure for virtual learning.
As Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe once said, 'There is an opportunity here to respond to the abnormal times abnormally.' Private schools can do better by fully involving parents in designing solutions that cater to different learner and parent needs. By doing so, they can help lessen the impact of the pandemic on families and ensure that education remains accessible to all, not just the privileged few.
