Community Meeting at a Slum Area

I went to a slum area that exists in Tudor today. The purpose of the visit is to see one aspect of regional disparity in education. According to the village elder, around half of the school age children have lacked the chance to attend school system in the slum area.

Before coming to Kenya, I researched about the Kenyan educational system. Based on the report, the national Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) at primary level increased from 107.6% in 2005 to 115% in 2011. The GER at the secondary level also increased from 28.8% in 2005 to 48.8% in 2011. Also Second Medium- Term Plans of Kenya Vision 2030 addresses the issue of lack of school facilities.

One of my colleagues, Mr. K, took me to the area to see what is the actual situation in the slum area. I realized that there is still regional disparities in terms of school attendance exist at the place.

There are some problems at the place. The primary education in Kenya is free, so every child can go to public school without pay; however, public schools are crowded with children. This report mentions, “The pupil/teacher ratio at primary school level increased from 1:39 in 2003 to 1:45 in 2009”. According to the report, there are gross disparities within regions and I assume that the pupil number is more than average. Therefore, only the children who have parents with influential power can go to public schools. Even if children could enter school after school age, sometimes they can’t follow the lecture, because they lack basic knowledge, resulting in a high drop rate.

Because it is hard to get high quality education in the area, children are deprived of getting capability for human capital, and they only can get casual work or sometimes they can’t get jobs. This is a visions cycle. There are some private schools at the place, and the tuition of those schools is ksh 21,000/year (ksh 7,000/term). The people of the area have lived with less than $1/day, so it is difficult for the parents to have their children go to private schools.
*$1=ksh 88 (6/10)

In addition to educational problems, there is hygiene issue of the place. There are only two toilet facilities and a bath in the area for more than 2,000 people. During the way to beach, that takes within 10 minutes, I saw a lot of small houses that made of mud exist, and wastes are scattered on the road. I saw a well that some organization established, but before the well is established, the people use a hose to bring water.

When I went through the crowded houses, there was one building at the place. Mr. K introduced me that the building is community center as well as school and church. There was one black board in the building that was made by the elders of the area. The idea is that they create the place that supports the children who can’t go to public school by themselves.

I joined the community meeting that held in the building. Around 10-community people that include 2 women and a village elder participated the meeting. They are welcoming me and ask me to come together with my friends to see the area’s condition. The people strongly require education for children to get better lives, especially women worry their children’s education. Finally, the community people took shaking hands gesture (sending power gesture) that means crapping hands. Mr. K explained that people who live in slum area are prohibited to have meetings, so they don’t use crapping hands. To receive the power gesture, I also took receiving gesture.

I have heard about the slum’ conditions and problems; however, it is my first time to go to a slum so far. Actually children who live at the place are very cheerful, and hygiene condition is more worth than that I expected. This experience is an eye opener for me, but how can I address this issue?