Education, youth and culture consultation: Viwandani segment 1 (Paradise B, Paradise C, Paradise A, Sinai B/Kwa Reli & Sinai A), 28.11.2018

Where? Viwandani segment 1 (Paradise B, Paradise C, Paradise A, Sinai B/Kwa Reli & Sinai A)

When? 28.11.2018

What? Education, youth and culture consortium consultation meeting (the consortium = WERC (Women Education Research Centre), Reuben Centre, New School (New York), Oxfam, Plan International, Daraja Initiative, Mukuru Slum Development Project, Elimu Yetu Foundation, Data Vault Systems, Slum Dwellers International-Kenya, and Akiba Mashinani Trust)

Who? Residents representatives from Viwandani segment 1 villages (Paradise B, Paradise C, Paradise A, Sinai B/Kwa Reli & Sinai A); Muungano alliance federation and support professionals; representatives of consortium organisations.

>What is a segment and how are the consultations organised?

About the community consultations:

This note is from the first of three sets of community consultations by the Education, youth and culture consortium of the SPA.

This first set of consultation meetings are segment-level dreaming sessions, where residents share their views and aspirations with the consortium, and where the consortium works with the community to identify issues and challenges, community priorities, and ideas for potential solutions – all relating to education, youth and culture.

After the first consultation meetings, the consortium will develop a draft sectoral plan for the segment – this draft sectoral plan will be derived from the dreams shared in the first set of consultation meetings and tested against the existing reality of Mukuru.

In later sets of meetings, first at segment level, the consortium will seek residents’ feedback on these draft plans, which will then be revised accordingly. And then all 8 of the SPA consortiums will together share the final integrated development plan, for adoption by Mukuru’s residents. 

CURRENT ISSUES IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN VILLAGES OF SINAI A, SINAI B/KWA RELI, PARADISE A, PARADISE B, AND PARADISE C

Early Childhood Development centres

• -no public schools

• -expensive school levies 500-1000 per month

• -low quality education since one room is subdivided into several classes hence hindering concentration leading to poor performance

• -no qualified teachers and staff

• -no enough facilities and scholastic materials

• -no special units for special needs children

• -school compounds not secure since some are built in the same compound with pubs and changaa dens hence leading to child abuse or negativity

• -no playgrounds to showcase talents

PRIMARY & SECONDARY SCHOOLS

• -Lacks proper hygiene and sanitation

• -unqualified teachers

• -overrated school levies

• -poor structures you find a child buying snacks while in class

• -poor performance due to one room subdivided into classes

• -talent is not encouranged since there are no playgrounds

• -insecure school compounds

• -pupil-teacher ratio is 1:100 leading to overworking teachers and poor performance

• -poor structure of schools incase of emergencies

• -most schools don’t register their class 8 candidates since they are not registered  so they have to move to another exam centre to access exams

• -lack of books so parents buy second hand books which are old syllabus hence most of kids are left behind

• -most private schools delays exams making holidays to be short

• -most of the schools are rented hence they can move anytime shifting the school from one place to another

• -child abuse and early pregnancy occurs so much since some schools are located near pubs and risky corners

• -no parent participation in schools

• -no proper uniforms

• -racism in schools

• -one room partitioned into several classes

PROPOSALS

• -People proposed Kenya pipeline ground which is dormant to be built a public school

• -private schools to be registered and those who fail to be closed down

• -sanitation to be considered

• -special unit teachers

• -Quality education assuarance

• -Qualified teachers

• -Space to showcase talents eg playgrounds

• -Qualified teachers who can work in informal settlements

• -Social workers to be involved in schools

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About the Education, youth and culture consultation consortium:

The Education, youth and culture consortium is one of the 7 sectoral consortiums* under the Mukuru SPA. It is led by Nairobi City County and supported by several non-governmental organizations—WERC (Women Education Research Centre), Reuben Centre, New School (New York), Oxfam, Plan International, Daraja Initiative, Mukuru Slum Development Project, Elimu Yetu Foundation, Data Vault Systems, Slum Dwellers International-Kenya, and Akiba Mashinani Trust.

This consortium is mandated to establish the prevailing situation in the planning area, which encompasses the three areas of Mukuru kwa Reuben, Mukuru kwa Njenga, and Viwandani, in terms of education, youth and culture facilities in and around Mukuru and how they are run—and how the Mukuru SPA planning process relates to various relevant policies and frameworks, including:

• Kenya’s 2003 move towards a free primary education program, which greatly improved the enrollment rates of both boys and girls in Kenya.

• The creation of the Kenyan Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Development, a measure established by the Kenyan government, which supported the achievement of gender equity in the country. This ministry broke from the former Ministry of Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services that seek to create systems that support gender equality in Kenya and improve the carrying out of international goals, such as the Millennium Development Goals, that support gender equity and equality.

• The National Policy on Gender and Development, which was enacted in 2000 and was established for the government to have a usable framework to enhance gender mainstreaming within different areas of the Kenyan government and use resources for achieving gender equity within education development in Kenya effectively.

• In 2007, a Gender Policy in Education was created through the Ministry of Education with the goal of having a framework to establish several gender-responsive education sector programs, including the measure to raise the levels of gender parity at all levels of education.

• The strategy created by the Kenyan government known as Vision 2030, which was established in order to improve development programs being carried out to enhance Kenya’s economic growth until the year 2030.

• A clear proponent that aims to help Kenya achieve gender parity within education development is the adoption of affirmative action as a policy by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology. This policy was created with the goal of increasing access and opportunities for women in higher learning institutions during admission.

The Education, youth and culture consortium is doing this by: conducting theme-specific surveys and research in Mukuru; identifying gaps in the existing literature and information; and preparing a sectoral situation analysis report.

Key to all of this is the consortium’s community consultation mandate – which is to sit with Mukuru’s residents, and listen and gather their views on how they want education, youth and cultural services provision in their neighbourhoods to be transformed. These views will then be adopted into revised sectoral plans, and finally harmonized—together with the community views collected by the other 6 SPA sectoral consortiums—to create an ‘integrated development plan’ for Mukuru.

The SPA process is designed to be community driven, and participation of the community is a requisite. The Kenyan Constitution makes the County governments responsible for ensuring this right to participate in decision-making on matters affecting citizens is observed.  But crucially, in order to ensure that the community contributes to such participation forums from an informed perspective, it’s important for them to properly understand their situation.