Most children in East Africa go to school on daily basis but they are not really learning, a survey has shown.
Parents have viewed schooling as a key to their children’s future and hence send them to go learning. There is a tendency of poor performance in KCPE yet these learners spend most of their time in school.
Regional imbalance is a great factor that has affected the performance of learners. 16% of children aged 7 years and under in Standard 1 in the North Eastern region were unable to read letters compared with less than 2% of peers in Nairobi, a 2014 survey by Uwezo shows.
The difference in exposure and access to the good resources brings in the imbalance of the performance. The hazardous environment due to war, drought and even poor infrastructure makes North Eastern learners to perform poorly in KCPE.
The high equity gap, according to a 2013 study, has led to the varied performance in the KCPE. Nationally, children from less privileged households are less likely to attend school and to progress compared with children from well to do households.
Basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing affect the psychological nature of the learner demotivating them and affecting their KCPE performance.
Absenteeism of the teachers and poor remuneration has reduced the performance of learners in the recent past.
In 2011, 40% of children aged between 7 and 13 could read a class 2 story and solve class 2 division.
By Kwiname Claiton
(Vihiga County)