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Reply to “Dann beschlossen wir unsere Schule anzuzünden”, NZZ 6.4.2017

Posted on 04/25/2017 at 09:01AM

High-school students in Kenya have set fire to multiple schools over the past year to vent their anger about increasing pressure, poor conditions and violent teachers (NZZ, 4.6.2017). Much to our regret we at Aiducation judge the article well-researched and accurate.

High-school students are under a lot of pressure to perform as there are currently few options for those who fail: “It’s like being banished and left alone to fend in a desert if you do”, says Jeremiah Kambi, co-founder of Aiducation. In its early days Aiducation also required its scholars to constantly earn good grades to stay in the program. This requirement was however dropped to reduce some of the pressure, explains co-founder Florian Kapitza. Also, being an average performer in a top school means you are still a top performer overall.

The article further criticizes the lack of relevant skills for the job market. The Kenyan government is partly addressing this issue by providing more funding for technical subjects at the universities. Besides this, Aiducation puts a heavy focus on helping its scholars gain relevant skills and develop as persons through its many academies. To widen opportunities after finishing high-school beyond university, we have also set up a start-up fund that has already seen several businesses come to fruition and are working on further expanding internship opportunities.

What we do believe is a serious issue is violence, and not only through teachers, but also through prefects under the eye of the administration (Kenyan media reports in 2017). Jeremiah believes that bullying is another unfortunate relict of Kenya’s colonial history. Unfortunately, many see bullying as normal. “We never really said anything because we were naive, and thought maybe it was part of the induction process of being assimilated in the Alliance High school fraternity”, says one of our AiduAlumni. He also believes in the academies as platforms to exchange thoughts and heal.

Further problems that were discussed in the article were monotonous food and little family time. We are more critical towards these two issues. “We love ugali and it’s very nutritious”, says Jeremiah. It’s the main staple most Kenyans also eat at home. We believe poor hygiene as well as lack of privacy and quiet areas for studying are more strongly affecting the students’ well being.
We also believe in the sense of boarding schools in Kenya, which still allows the students to see their family during extended holidays. “Through boarding schools students get exposed to a wide variety of social contexts and see an environment different from their home”, says Florian.

Lastly, as noted in the article grades have been lower this year than in the previous years, coinciding with government reforms against corruption and cheating. While in previous years 2-3% of Kenyan students attained an A or A- not even 1% did so this year. We agree with the author that these grades probably are a truer reflection of real abilities. Jeremiah Kambi nonetheless adds that “grades now value more and even with the minimum grade you will now be accepted into university”. This also attests to a strength of the system: A student can get an education and a good performance will definitely open doors.
What the general lowering of grades will mean for access to government scholarships is something we’ll have an eye on though.

The Canadian academic Elizabeth Cooper rightly wonders in the article what it tells about a system if some young people believe they need to use violence to make themselves be heard. We hope our AiduAlumni will be part of a process of change. We will continue to work hard to open doors to capable and hard-working students – be it in lecture halls at university or behind their own counter. As an individual organization we are too small to change Kenya’s school system – which is also not all bad – but we can help our scholars fulfill their potential and bring change as future doctors, engineers, journalists and politicians.


Tags: education system in Kenya, text:nl