• Plight of unemployment is well documented, education must change the narrative
Education is a key factor for many Kenyans and for the African child to prosper and compete freely with others globally, Luanda MP Dick Maungu says.
"Education is an equaliser in life and it levels the ground for all to live a fair and just life," he said.
The lawmaker says poverty denies the youth an opportunity to tap their potential talent to the maximum.
“It’s only education that can help these young boys and girls to achieve what they want in life for a better tomorrow,” Maungu said on the phone.
Image: Handout
He said an educated society is better than an uninformed society, where people live only for today.
“To end poverty, access to education should be a basic right where kids from less privileged families can sit at the same table of education with kids from rich families,” he said.
The lawmaker said it’s high time the government made education free and accessible to all learners across the country.
He said as the MP, he has developed the Maungu Foundation that has started supporting bright and needy learners in his constituency.
Every ward gets a slot of 10 pupils to join secondary school, he said.
Once the society is educated, it becomes innovative to create employment. Youths should not be taught to be job seekers but job creatorsAlfred Indeche
NARRATIVE CHANGING
Former Vihiga Finance executive Alfred Indeche however said poverty is no longer a big disaster to learners in the current world, where scholarships have proliferated.
“During our times, there were no scholarships. We had to struggle. Parents had to labour a lot for us to be in school. And accessing learning resources was a disaster,” Indeche said.
“Now if you go to schools, we have libraries, computer labs and learning centres as well as resource centres, where learners can google and search for information.”
He said currently in Kenya, Equity Bank, KCB and Co-op Bank are offering scholarships, while the county and some MPs are offering scholarships and bursaries as well to sustain learners in school.
The former executive said the learning environment in some schools is not conducive, making youth prone to engaging in social vices at the expense of academics.
“Strikes, sneaking from school, drug peddling in school and aiming to live high standards in school beyond the pocket,” he cited.
But he admitted that in some situations, poverty has cut short many dreams out there, of learners who have not been privileged to obtain scholarships and bursaries.
He said in such cases, poverty creates a rift between the youth and their parents, thus not affording them that parental guidance.
To cut down on poverty, much must be done in the education sector for a better tomorrow, he said.
“Once the society is educated, it becomes innovative to create employment. Youths should not be taught to be job seekers but job creators,” he said.