Education ought to lead to the transformation of the individual and society and enhance human dignity.
Education without this true sense of responsibility cannot be educated in the true sense of the term.
Nelson Mandela articulated his concept of education from the background of African Ontology where discipline is the foundation for moral justification to tackle the inequality entrenched by the Apartheid Regime.
He believed that self-discipline is the greatest weapon with which to maintain a stable and dignified personality, develop responsible citizenship, and avoid striving.
According to Mandela, the function of education was to arm man against deceit.
What this meant is that education provides knowledge and insight for generating innovative ideas and strategies for the survival of oneself and others in a relational future referential attitude.
However, in as much as different countries strived to uphold this noble course, their faiths were put to test by the outbreak of Covid-19 and Kenya was not spared either.
Before the pandemic, Kenya had a well-planned and structured system of education - very admirable.
In 2017 for instance, Kenya’s education system was rated as the strongest on the African continent by the World Economic Forum.
In 2018, the World Bank also ranked Kenya as the top African country for education outcomes (1st out of 43 mainland countries).
Further, the normal school calendar for primary and secondary schools ran from January to early December, before breaking for the festive season.
With the closure of schools during the pandemic, the public institutions suffered a major blow.
Parents who wanted their children to proceed with normal learning had to foot school requirements for example purchasing data bundles for their children, purchasing additional learning materials, etc.
This even worsened the situation and instead widened the gap as compared with their counterparts in private schools.
Remote learning was adopted by only a small minority of students, and disadvantaged children fell further behind.
After so many months, schools reopened. Measures were put in place to ensure that school-going children got protected from contracting Covid-19.
These past couple of years have brought unprecedented difficulties to billions of people across the world. Children particularly in developing countries – have had to deal with a heavy load.
In Kenya, the long school closure led to disruptions in education and child development that have potentially long-lasting implications.
When schools shut their gates in March 2020, few children could resume their education with remote learning, likely increasing pre-existing inequalities as children from poor households fell further behind.
Finally, as the government continues putting its best foot forward towards addressing this issue of ensuring that the normal school calendar resumes hopefully by January 2023, special attention should be given to disadvantaged children, who may lag for lack of support.
Freelance journalists
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
