Education centres in slums and other marginalized areas in the country have been neglected by stakeholders, including the government, a fact that contributes to poor living standards.
This was said on Thursday by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of Academic affairs of Mt. Kenya University Professor Joseph Mungai, when he addressed students and staff at the Nakuru Town Campus during a public lecture that was delivered by a visiting Nigerian scholar Professor Charles Okigbo.
According to the don, most slum-based schools and training institutions in the country fail to perform well and produce graduates to join higher learning institutions and the job market because of negligence by the government and other stakeholders.
“Our education centres in slums and other marginalized areas in the country suffer from poor learning environment and facilities due to negligence by the government and other stakeholders,” he said.
“As a result, such institutions cannot be able to produce graduates to join higher learning institutions and the job market because of poor education backgrounds,” he further observed.
Mungai called on the ministry of education and county governments to allocate more resources to marginalized areas and education centres in order to provide equity in learning and training in the country.
At the same time, he challenged stakeholders in education and social development to support slum areas’ schools build better learning environments and materials in order for them to improve in academic performances.