Education is universally recognized as one of the most important elements of society. But finding the means and money to build a functioning education system can be a real challenge. In Kenya, Education Bridge Africa is playing its part in addressing the education issues that the East African nation is facing and, in doing so, is helping to provide a brighter future for Kenyan children.
It’s a common problem throughout Africa, of course, but since winning its independence in 1963, Kenya has made concerted efforts to achieve universal primary education, recognizing the importance having children in school has in terms of national growth. But with resources stretched, education is often the area that struggles most.
Founded in 2012, Education Bridge Africa was formed with the distinct purpose of changing things for deprived communities. Headed by a board of experts in education, economics and other areas, the NGO’s key motivation is the fact that many communities in the country are strapped for resources and so are unable to achieve adequate social and economic development.
Turning Education Around
Kenya has always held education highly. The country’s first formal school opened in Rabai near Mombasa on the shores of the Indian Ocean in 1846, set up by German missionaries Johann Ludwig Krapf and Johannes Rebmann. With the arrival of the railway, more schools were opened further west, in Nairobi and Kaimosi, in the first decade of the 20th century. By the time Kenya achieved independence, in 1963, some 840,000 African children in Kenya were attending elementary school.
While under British rule, many of the brightest students were given the opportunity to continue their education abroad. This includes Barack Obama Snr, father of the current US President, who hailed from Nyang’oma Kogelo near Lake Victoria and received a scholarship to the University of Hawaii in 1959 where he studied economics.
But economic and social realities have taken their toll on many communities in recent decades, causing many to fall behind. In fact, it is not unusual for communities to use untrained teachers in classrooms just to keep schools going.
Training Teachers
This issue is a particular target for Education Bridge Africa, whose flagship program is designed to train untrained teachers in pedagogical skills, as well as introduce techniques in disaster risk reduction.
Teachers can also benefit from coaching and mentoring schemes to help them develop their existing classroom techniques. Through one-to-one discussions, teachers can gain from the experience of a mentor, enhancing their skills and performance. In turn, the children in their classrooms benefit.
Mentoring is also something that students can access. High school children who identify a specific subject interest are aided by university students so as to help them achieve the academic standard needed to study that particular topic later. Student mentoring is done after careful consultation with parents or guardians.
These programs take place in informal and rural settlement schools, where government support is thinly spread and poorer communities mean parents have a difficulty in meeting school costs. Currently, Education Bridge Africa operates not just in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, but in several other large urban centers, like Nakuru, Nyeri, Nyandarua, and Laikipia. As a result, it is able to reach the most disadvantaged and marginalized children in the country.
Of course, it is a huge undertaking. Kibra, for example, just 5 kilometres from downtown Nairobi, is one of the world’s largest informal settlements. Education Bridge Africa is there, facing a loosely estimated population of 1 million people. Donations of text books, story books, pens, pencils and any valuable materials are helping to fill the resource gap that for so long has hindered educational progress, but the task is a mammoth one.
Project Work
While education is a key part of its work, Education Bridge Africa knows that the social problems Kenyan communities have to wrangle with run more deeply than that. So, its work goes beyond teacher training and the donation of classroom materials.
The other areas it focuses itself on include:
But it is through education that the charity hopes to achieve its overall aim – namely, to uplift people who are limited by their low status in society and to empower all generations in the areas of social, economic, domestic, personal and cultural development.
To find out more about Education Bridge Africa and the work they do, check out their MyCharityMap Profile page or their official website.
Education Bridge Africa is playing its part in building local communities, helping them make the most of the opportunities presented by Kenyan ecotourism. Read our report on MyTravelsMap.
Image: Girls at school in Kenya, supported by the work of Education Bridge Africa. Photo from Education Bridge Africa website. Published through Creative Commons (CC 2.0).