This archive report was first published on 10 May 2020.
Published on May 10, 2020, by Scheaffer Okore, a writer for the Nation.
As a child, I dreaded being on the list of students who hadn't paid their school fees. The headteacher would publicly shame those who hadn't paid, making them feel like outcasts.
This experience is not unique to me. Many Kenyan learners have grown up with similar feelings of shame and not belonging, thanks to the education system's bias against disadvantaged learners.
The current education system in Kenya is guilty of othering, a process of treating certain groups as inferior and different from the rest. By refusing to acknowledge that most learners aren't learning, the Education Ministry is perpetuating this bias.
The Ministry's insistence on proceeding with examinations despite the lack of infrastructure for online learning is a clear example of othering. It applauds the few who are benefiting from online learning while shunning those who aren't, without any concern for their circumstances.
Most Kenyan learners don't have access to the internet or the necessary tools to participate in online learning. The illusion that learning from home is taking place is a conscious bias that ignores the reality of vulnerable households.
The burden of electronic learning cannot be placed on vulnerable households, who should be supported by the government. It's time for the Education Ministry to accept that its current approach is harming disadvantaged learners and teaching them to see themselves as less valued.
The Ministry needs to make decisions that are inclusive and aware of the realities of many Kenyan children who deserve an education just like their fellows.
