Interviews with M-Shule: The impact of coronavirus on learners in low-income households in Kenya
“We are living in a different world right now, a world where masks and hand sanitizers are the new normal. I walk down the streets but see no children playing even though they are not in school. At 7pm, my once buzzing surrounding, is nothing short of a ghost town.” — Albina on her experiences in her neighbourhood in the past 2 months.
This is a week that, in a typical school year, would have been filled with students returning to their classrooms for the second term of the school year — but coronavirus has changed all of that. Albina, M-Shule’s Account Management Associate, and Evans from the Projects team take us through their observations in the wake of the coronavirus and give us a deeper understanding of the parents’ perspective.
Question: How was the learning situation in Kenya with the rise of COVID19?
Evans: March of this year was when Kenya recorded her first confirmed case of coronavirus. I believe the government was swift in shutting down all primary schools within three days to implement the social distancing guidelines in order to prevent further spread. Millions of learners were affected of course especially at a crucial time when they would have been preparing for end term examinations.
Question: Three days is very abrupt for a nationwide closure. Where did that leave learners?
Evans: Yes, very abrupt indeed. We are currently into the first week of what would have been the second term in the Kenyan school calendar. The Ministry of Education gave a directive that schools would not re-open for at least another month. My heart melts for the Class 8 candidates who the ministry said would still sit for their national examinations at the end of the year.
Albina: There was a lot of confusion. Parents did not know how long it would be for and if their children would return to school to finish up on exams. The school closures triggered the need for individuals and organisations to explore various ways of teaching. On a lighter note, my colleague Mark for example, even decided to utilize his teaching background to home school his nephew for two weeks. That aside, we saw the emergence of schools, mostly private, developed and set up e-learning platforms. Publishers on the other hand made their content available online.
Question: What of the government’s roadmap to ensure learning continued?
Albina: I saw that the Ministry of Education set up a plan to facilitate learning, through KBC, the national broadcaster’s media and extension services. The aim, of course, was to ensure learners could receive lessons on the radio and TV in collaboration with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).
Question: Do you think these ways of learning maximised reach?
Evans: There are over 8 million primary school learners in Kenya and when you look at the solutions stated earlier, a huge assumption is that every learner can access them. It begs the question, does every household have access to electricity, a smart device, internet connection, radio or television? The simple answer is no. This is an issue also raised through various media outlets while reporting on the state of learning affairs.
Albina: In reality, a huge number of learners do not have access to these tools as they come from low income communities where there is no wifi or laptops at home. Even smartphones and data connectivity are too expensive. Parents will prioritise essentials such as food and water over investing in such tools. I saw the other day that some private schools have ‘opened’ and are already engaging their learners through virtual lessons which epitomizes the unequal learning landscape.
Question: What steps have you taken?
Evans: Having identified the potential imbalance that learning from home will contribute, we decided to engage our learning community through parents from low income communities to find out their experiences during this pandemic. Also, we sought to establish their children’s studying routine while at home.
Question: What were your findings?
Albina: We realized that parents from these areas are suffering financially. They rely on casual work for their daily income. Some have lost their jobs because businesses and their places of work are cutting down to implement the social distancing guidelines provided. From our analysis, 70% of parents reported financial strain brought about by this pandemic. This was a situation beyond their control and their children were unexpectedly home. Picture this, a parent who had already paid school fees for Term 1 and enrolled their children to the school feeding program, now has to dig deeper into their pockets.
Evans: In my days I found learning from home to be quite tricky with all the distractions around. No teacher to monitor my activities, no active teaching with my classmates around or that loud bell to usher in the next lesson. It is no surprise that we found out that learners spend about 60% less time studying at home as compared to normal school study hours. Parents who spoke to us said that they are trying to motivate their children to learn as the routine developed in school is different.
Question: As we conclude, what do you project going forward?
Evans: These are uncertain times but we must bridge this gap the best we can because not taking action can have life-long consequences for the current learning generation. More conversations need to be held by the education stakeholders to determine best practices which will enable our children to actively learn.
Albina: It is through collective responsibility from the whole learning community that we can help provide further solutions to learners through education and we are open to having such discussions. Truth be told, the extent to which this pandemic can further disrupt learning remains unknown.
Report compiled by the M-Shule Communications Team
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