Set up to Fail: Inadequate Educational Support for Orphans in Central Kenya

Ginger A. Johnson
DOI: 10.4236/aa.2011.11001                

Abstract

In response to Kenya's goal of free and universal primary education for every child by 2015, this paper describes a few of the obstacles that one of the most visible periphery populations in Kenya, orphaned children, face in attempting to reach this objective. The most frequently cited barriers of children and their caretakers to consistent school attendance included: inability to pay school fees, lack of a school uniform, difficulty in providing assis- tance to orphaned children, presence of disease/illness in the family and disruption of education due to political violence. Conducted in a Kikuyu community in the Kinangop District of Central Kenya following the 2007/2008 presidential election riots, this study utilized multiple regression, logistic regression and MANOVA statistical tests to determine if families caring for orphaned children of primary school age differed significantly from families with no orphans in the home. Discriminant function and Mahalanobis testing further revealed differ- ences in types of households, with the presence of orphans in the home (particularly AIDS orphans) significantly increasing the amount of school fees owed per family. Qualitative data obtained from semi-structured interviews with families and open-ended interviews with their primary school aged children contextualized study results and inform policy recommendations.

Keywords

HIV/AIDS, Kenya, Regression Analysis, Primary School, Orphans, Child Agency

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Ackers, J., Migoli, J., & Nzomo J. (2001). Identifying and addressing the causes of declining participation rates in Kenyan primary schools. International Journal of Educational Development, 21, 361-374. doi:10.1016/S0738-0593(00)00054-7
[2]	Adepoju, A. (1993). The impact of Structural Adjustment on the population of Africa: The implications for education, health and employment. London: James Currency Ltd.
[3]	Ainsworth, M., Beegle K., & Koda, G. (2000). The impact of adult mortality on primary school enrolment in Northwestern Tanzania. Washington, D.C.: Development Research Group, World Bank.
[4]	Ainsworth, M., & Filmer, D. (2002). Poverty, AIDS, and children’s schooling: A targeting dilemna. Washington, D.C.: Policy Research Working Paper Series, World Bank.
[5]	Anderson, D., & Lochery, E. (2008).Violence and exodus in Kenya’s Rift Valley, 2008: Predictable or preventable? Journal of East African Studies, 2, 328-342. doi:10.1080/17531050802095536
[6]	Bicego, G., Rutstein, S., & Johnson, K. (2002). Dimensions of the emerging orphan crisis in sub-Saharan Africa. Social Science and Medicine, 56, 1235-1247. doi:10.1016/S0277-9536(02)00125-9
[7]	Bruns, B., Mingat, A., & Rakotomalala, R. (2003). Achieving universal primary education by 2015: A chance for every child. Washington, D.C: The World Bank. doi:10.1596/0-8213-5345-4
[8]	Buvinic, M., & Gupta, G. R. (1997). Female-headed households and female-maintained families: Are they worth targeting to reduce poverty in developing countries? Economic Development and Cultural Change, 45, 259-281. doi:10.1086/452273
[9]	Case, A., Paxson, C., & Ableidinger, J. (2004). Orphans in Africa: Parental death, poverty, and school enrollment. Demography, 41, 483-508.
[10]	Clark, M. H. (1984). Women-headed households and poverty: Insights from Kenya. Signs, 10, 338-354. doi:10.1086/494141
[11]	Due, J. M. (1991). Policies to overcome the negative effects of structural adjustment programs on African female-headed households. In C. H. Gladwin, (Ed.) Structural adjustment and African women farmers. (pp. 103-127). Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press.
[12]	Farmer, P., & Connors, M. (1996). Women, poverty & AIDS: Sex, drugs and structural violence. Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press.
[13]	Foster, G., Shakespeare, R., Chinemana, F., Jackson, H., Gregson, S., Marange, C., & Mashumba, S. (1995). Orphan prevalence and extended family care in a peri-urban community in Zimbabwe. AIDS Care, 7, 3-18. doi:10.1080/09540129550126911
[14]	Foster, G., & Williamson, J. (2000). A review of current literature on the impact of HIV/AIDS on children in sub-Saharan Africa. AIDS, 14, S275-S284.
[15]	Hamman, E. T. (2002). Book Review—Schooling the symbolic animal: Social and cultural dimensions of education. Teachers College Record, 104, 13-29.
[16]	Hamra, M., Ross, M. W., Karuri, K., Orrs, M., & D’Agostino, A. (2005). The relationship between expressed HIV/AIDS-related stigma and beliefs and knowledge about care and support of people living with AIDS in families caring for HIV-infected children in Kenya. AIDS Care, 17, 911-922.
[17]	Horowitz, J. (2009). Power-sharing in Kenya. Working Paper, Workshop on Political Inclusion in Africa, AmericanUniversity. Electronic document. https://www.american.edu/sis/africacouncil/upload/Paper-2-Kenya-Power-Sharing-Horowitz.pdf.
[18]	Human Rights Watch (2008). Ballots to bullets: Organized political violence and Kenya’s crisis of governance. Human Rights Watch, 20, 1-80.
[19]	Kossoudji, S., & Mueller, E. (1983). The economic and demographic status of female-headed households in rural Botswana. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 31, 831-859. doi:10.1086/451360
[20]	Levinson, B. A., & Holland, D. C. (1996). The cultural production of the educated person: An introduction. In Bradley A. Levinson, Douglas E. Foley, and Dorothy C. Holland, (Eds.), The cultural production of the educated person: critical ethnographies of schooling and local practice. (pp. 1-56). Albany: State University of New York Press.
[21]	Levinson, B. A., Foley, D. E., & Holland, D. C. (eds.) (1996). The cultural production of the educated person: Critical ethnographies of schooling and local practice. Albany: State University of New York Press.
[22]	Levinson, B. A., Borman, K. M., & Eisenhart, M. (eds.) (2000). Schooling the symbolic animal: Social and cultural dimensions of education. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
[23]	Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) (2003). Free primary education: Every child in school. Nairobi: MoEST.
[24]	Muhoho, G. (1975). Universal free primary education: The Kenyan experience. Nairobi: Paper presented at the Association of Teachers of African Teachers.
[25]	Nkinyangi, J. A. (1982). Access to primary education in Kenya: The contradictions of public policy. Comparative Education Review, 26, 199-217. doi:10.1086/446290
[26]	Nyambedha, E. O. (2007). Practices of relatedness and the re-invention of duol as a network of care for orphans and widows in western Kenya. Africa, 77, 517-535. doi:10.3366/afr.2007.77.4.517
[27]	Nyamukapa, C., & Gregson, S. (2005). Extended family’s and women’s roles in safeguarding orphans’ education in AIDS-afflicted rural Zimbabwe. Social Science & Medicine, 60, 2155-2167. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.10.005
[28]	Reimers, F. (1994). Education and structural adjustment in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. International Journal of Educa- tional Development, 14, 119-129. doi:10.1016/0738-0593(94)90017-5
[29]	Roth, E. A. (1991). Education, tradition, and household labor among Rendille pastoralists of Northern Kenya. Human Organization, 50, 136-140.
[30]	Shetty, A. K., & Powell, G. (2005). Children orphaned by AIDS: A global perspective. Seminars in Pediatric Infectious Diseases, 14, 25-31. doi:10.1053/spid.2003.127214
[31]	Sifuna, D. N. (1990). Development of education in Africa: The Kenyan experience. Nairobi: Initiatives Ltd.
[32]	UNAIDS (2007). Kenya. Electronic document, accessed March 17, 2008. http://www.unaids.org/en/CountryResponses/Countries/kenya.asp,
[33]	Vos, R., Bedi, A., Kimalu, P. K., Manda, D. K., Nafula, N. N., & Kimenyi, M. S. (2004). Achieving universal primary education: Can Kenya afford it? Storrs, CT: University of Connecticut.
[34]	Wa-Mungai, M., & Gona, G. (2010). Remembering Kenya Vol 1. Identity, Culture and Freedom. Oxford: African Books Collective.
[35]	Yamano, T., Jayne, T. S., & McNeil, M. (2002). Measuring the impact of prime-age adult death on rural households in Kenya. Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development (FASID), Japan.