Bridging the Gap

The books from Libraries forKids International couldn’t come at a better time in most rural schools inKenya. All candidates in both primary and secondary schools just completedtheir Annual national exams for KCPE and KCSE, respectively, and the resultsare as expected. Urban schools out-performed rural schools. Why, you ask? Well,I was curious too and talked to several students who lamented the same thing,lack of adequate resources, mostly textbooks.

Jasmine

Jasmine is a class six student from Tala Township, an urban school, painted for me, a picture that students from Muamba in Mutomo and Kongoni in Maktau sub-counties and other rural schools wish could be available in their institutions.

This is her story:- "In our classes, every student has a textbook for each subject stored on the shelves at the back of the classroom. Every term, these books are counted from the storeroom, which is next to the teachers’ launch and distributed to all classrooms. We also have a computer room with about five to ten computers and students are allowed to go in and study during recess or after classes. The students that board at the institution get more time as they can access the facilities at night. I am a day-schooled, but we have a computer at home and my parents allow me to use it for class projects".

Mutheu, a former candidatefrom Kyalilini, wishes she had a similar opportunity as it would have made adifference in her school and possibly, towards her score that could only secureher the chance to join a sub-county school within the neighborhood, MutulukuniSecondary school. Although she is grateful, Mutheu narrates a story I’m toofamiliar with and a story she will continue to endure at the secondary levelfor four years if the situation doesn’t change soon. Three to five studentsshare a textbook per subject, and not all books, for all the subjects, areavailable.

What would have changed if youhad a textbook for every subject and could access it any time you wanted beforeyou did your national examination last November?

The response from Mutheu: - IfI had access to storybooks or novels, I would have scored better in my Englishand Kiswahili subjects. Don’t laugh, but we have all struggled with grammar andcomposition writing since class six. If I don’t understand how to construct a propersentence, or write a narrative of 150 words, or get a chance to read more, howcan my English or Kiswahili score be more than 30%?

If I had access to a textbookfor every subject, I’d also have scored better in Mathematics, science, andsocial studies as I could have had more opportunities to practice and readahead of the teacher every time. I did the best I could, but sharing textbookswith my classmates made it hard for me to keep up with the teacher and revisebetter. I could only get a few days after school with any of the availabletextbooks.

The assistance from Librariesfor Kids International, especially when it comes to storybooks, novels, andrelevant revision content for all subjects, will help students like Mutheuimprove their scores and have similar opportunities just like Jasmine andothers in the urban schools.