The gap between developed and developing countries regarding education is huge as depicted by the level of technology and economic growth among other factors. Taking the case of Kenya, a third world country in East Africa, education has proved a challenge in its growth and development. In Kenya, education is the pathway to the labor market, a source of income and can lead to living a better life. However, there is a diverse education inequality among Kenya`s population subdividing the country into the rich and the poor. Lack of equal access to education has seen the country plunge into poverty and poor governance. Kenya follows an 8-4-4 education system that entails eight years of primary education, four years in secondary education, and four years of higher education. Since the introduction of the education system, Kenya has seen a steady rise in the education level with many emerging schools across the three levels.
According to statistics, however, a staggering quarter of Kenya`s population has no education at all, half of the population managing basic primary education, and approximately 23% have attained secondary education and higher (SID). Sadly, these figures tell a tale of how access to education in the country is hindering its nourishment and killing dreams of an ambitious young generation. Government after government, the issue of education inequality remains far from being resolved. A myriad of problems facing the country is due to lack of an educated population to help solve or create better innovations and strategies to counter the issues. Poverty, corruption, post-election violence, and the high crime rate are issues that are taking the country a step behind.
Poverty
A country of 44 million people, nearly half of that population is living below the poverty level. The reason being lack of proper education to sustain themselves. Even with the introduction of free primary education, there have been no significant improvements in the education system. Children are forced to go to school, but the government does not provide sufficient school resources and reading materials to sustain the high number of students per class. The situation leaves the upcoming generation at the very same level of poverty with some ending up engaging in criminal activities to survive. With the country having voted for a devolved type of government, all the 47 counties have heavily invested in education and other social needs.
However, families in deep poverty cannot afford consistent meals, let alone school uniforms for their school going children. Such situations force these children to remain at home and help their parents look for money through odd jobs to survive. A further policy by the government to reduce the burden by parents on paying for secondary education is an indication of how parents bear the hurdle of educating their children. Bursaries for the needy children are provided by government and non-governmental institutions, but not all benefit from this initiative. On the contrary, able families take their children to the best schools from primary to university. These children get good education and easily find jobs once they graduate from the university.
Lack of access to education to the less fortunate has resulted to increased crime, high number of unskilled citizens, and a low life expectancy rate. If education was accessible to everyone, issues of poverty could be reduced to a substantial number. People would have the knowledge and skills to excel in life and the job market. To reduce the poverty level, the country needs to provide access to education to the poor and marginalized communities. The education will prove vital as it will ensure growth is shared among all the citizens. Compared to countries whose majority of their population is educated, Kenya can achieve a high growth rate if they reduce education inequality (GEM Report).
Corruption
Corruption is one of the leading causes of underdevelopment in Kenya. Recent corruption scandals in the country show the extent to which some “big fish” are willing to defraud the country into stealing millions of Kenya shillings to benefit themselves. Majority of these scandals involve government officials who embezzle public funds meant to provide social services and amenities for the local people. The devolved system of government has seen an increase in corruption and misuse of public funds in government offices and ministries. Audit reports of how county governments are spending taxpayer`s money on dubious purchases on overprices items have sparked a social outcry with the people losing faith in the relevant bodies to combat corruption. The Anti-Corruption body in conjunction with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution have in the past dealt with corruption cases but their efforts are far from being felt.
Indeed, corruption continues to hinder Kenya`s growth and development regardless of the current president`s motive to combat corruption in the public sector head-on. The question of how corruption begins lies in how these corrupt officials get into office in the first place. The people elect leaders to represent them in the county and national governments. However, the leaders are elected on ethnical lines rather than those leaders who possess integrity and ethics. The result is officials who forget why they were elected in the first place, who then go to steal from the same people they elected them in office. If education was accessible to all citizens, better anti-corruption programs could be introduced in the curriculum to foster corruption-less generation at an early age. Further, through teaching ethics, corruption and its impacts, education can be at the forefront of fighting corruption.
Post-election Violence and Crime
Since independence, Kenyan elections have not gone unnoticed from the international scene. The national elections have been marred with scenes of violence, for instance, the 2007 post-election violence that tore the country into two political warzones (Daily Nation). The mainstream and social media reported extreme violence and killings of innocent Kenyans in specific parts of the country. Inhuman fighting and manslaughter rocked the country fuelled by ethical voting and election malpractices. Certain communities voted for their people and did not want to concede defeat when results were announced by the electoral body. Soon violence broke out in specific parts of the country as different ethnical communities that were once living together clashed. They fought one another, some were chased out of that region, while others were attacked with crude weapons and their property destroyed.
Crime, on the other hand, results from the high rate of unemployment. Most people in the rural areas go to urban cities such as its capital city Nairobi, to find a source of livelihood. However, life gets tough for most of them, and they end up resorting to stealing and other criminal activities to survive (Nthia). Over the past few years, crime rates have increased in major cities around the country as the number of unskilled and unemployed youths has risen. The government`s inability to create more employment opportunities for its young generation and create avenues for the unskilled lot to attain technical skills for self-employment has seen the rise of rural-urban migration thereby facilitating criminal activities in these urban areas.
Equal access to education can be a solution to both post-election violence and crime in Kenya. When the country is educated, they can know how to differentiate what is wrong and what is right. As such, they can learn not to elect leaders on tribal lines, but preferably on integrity and willingness to represent the needs of the citizens. Further, education can reduce the rate of crime in urban cities. For instance, if a majority of the society acquire knowledge and skills of sustaining themselves, they can start businesses or look for work in the formal sector. Access to education can provide a stepping stone for growth and development.
Conclusion
Kenya is a third world country that has great potential to excel in its social and economic development. However, equal access to education for its citizens is a step back to achieving its vision as a country. Poverty is one of the most significant setbacks that the country has been unable to control. Stern measures to eradicate corruption have proved less successful with corruption at its peak in most governmental institutions. Years after the post-election violence, mistakes of the critical period are still being repeated yet it was devastating. Crime, as well, is on the rise each day as the government is unable to provide for its people. Education can be a solution to the issues facing Kenya and its people.
Works Cited
Daily Nation. "Kenya Since 2007-2008 Post-election Violence." Daily Nation, 6 Aug. 2017, www.nation.co.ke/news/politics/Kenya-since-post-election-violence-/1064-4046876-12j38pyz/index.html.
GEM Report. "We Will Never Eradicate Poverty Without Quality Education for All." World Education Blog, 17 Oct. 2013, gemreportunesco.wordpress.com/2013/10/17/we-will-never-eradicate-poverty-without-quality-education-for-all/.
Nthia, Enos N. "Research Findings on City/Street Crimes In Nairobi: Some Lessons for UN Volunteers." University of Nairobi Personal Websites, profiles.uonbi.ac.ke/enjeru/publications/research-findings-citystreet-crimes-nairobi-some-lessons-un-volunteers. Accessed 4 Nov. 2018.
SID. "Education | Kenya Inequalities." INEQUALITIES | Society for International Developement, inequalities.sidint.net/kenya/abridged/education/. Accessed 3 Nov. 2018.
