This document discusses challenges to educating girls in rural Kenya and strategies to address them. It notes that poverty, disease, and harmful cultural practices prevent many girls from accessing education. Introducing free primary education increased enrollment, but many girls in rural areas still do not attend school. It advocates for creating an environment to keep girls in secondary school, raising community awareness of the importance of educating girls, providing life skills training, and developing vocational programs for girls. The document emphasizes that education is a right that empowers girls and reduces poverty by enabling later marriage, smaller families, economic opportunities, and improved health outcomes. It concludes by donating land for a school to help address barriers to girls' education in rural Kenya.

1. Personal experience in girl child education in
rural set up in Kenya
Judith Pete
Catholic University of Eastern Africa

2. Who will cry for the little girl
the little girl that sleeps
Who will cry for the little girl
the little girl that weeps
Who will cry for the little girl
the little girl that will soon be grown
Who will cry for the little
the little girl who can't make it on her own
Who will cry for the little girl
the little girl who sits and stands

3. Who will cry for the little girl
the little girl who watches life in her hands
Who will cry for the little girl
the little girl that gives
Who will cry for the little girl
the little girl that lives
Who will cry for the little girl
the little girl that sleeps
Who will cry for the little girl
the little girl inside of me
Who will cry for the little girl
the little girl who used to be ME! !
Shaneka Taylor

4. } When we talk of education for everybody, it is
important to recognize that the world is
different for girls than it is for boys, and any
program or initiative must note this fact for
any best practices to be realized.
} Negative gender-based norms and practices
can be gradually transformed through
educational, social, legal and other processes
that promote equality of girls and boys.

5. } It is worth noting that in rural Kenya, a
combination of poverty, disease and
backward cultural practices continue to deny
the girl child her right to education.
} Even with the introduction of free primary
education, access to it still remains a pipe
dream to many Kenyan children.
} Whereas the introduction of free primary
education last year saw an increase in the
enrolment, a sizeable number of children,
especially girls in the rural set up still find
themselves out of school owing to a number
of reasons.

6. } Universal education has proven to be the most
effective means of eliminating endemic poverty, and
on an individual level has been shown to be the most
sustainable escape from poverty’s clutches.
} This is true for both women and men, and the gains
are even greater in developing countries. But
throughout the developing world, going to school is
rarely free.
} Students are required to pay their own transportation
costs, purchase uniforms, textbooks, notebooks and
pencils. Children who cannot afford these basic costs
cannot attend school.
} As families struggle to stay above the poverty line,
the additional expense of school becomes an unlikely
investment. Educating a daughter is therefore
considered a burden. Hence in Rachuonyo and Suba
Districts, Homa-Bay county, girls never sets foot in a
classroom.

7. } Education encourages environmental
sustainability: It allows people make decisions
that meet the needs of the present without
compromising those of future generations. Hence
it is vital to rethink education, curricula and
teaching practice in ways that complement the
drive to achieve this.
} Education reduces/ eliminates poverty:
economists tell us that ‘one extra year of
schooling increases a person’s earnings by up to
10-15%. Hence if all children in Kenya left school
with basic reading and writing skills, then Kenya
(rural set ups) would be lifted out of poverty…

8. } Education reduces child mortality:
} Education promotes gender equality by helping
women control how many children they have. In Mali,
women with secondary education or higher have an
average of three children, while those with no
education have an average of seven children.
} Education reduces child mortality: a child born to a
mother who can read is 50% more likely to survive
past age five. In Indonesia, child vaccination rates are
19% when mothers have no education and 68% when
mothers have at least secondary school education.
} Education contributes to improved maternal health:
women with higher levels of education are most likely
to delay and space out pregnancies, and to seek
health care and support.
} Education helps combat HIV, malaria and other
preventable diseases. In addition, it facilitates access
to treatment and fights against stigma and
discrimination.

9. } Creating an environment conducive to
keeping girls in school through the
secondary level; or at least ensure they are
literate and have fully developed skills for
innovativeness (KENSWED ACADEMY, CP
SCHOOLS).
} Working with communities, including local
political and religious leaders in order to
increase public awareness of the
needfulness of educating their daughters
just as they do to the sons. (Ng’wono
Women Group, Suba District).

10. } Providing life skills and counseling so that
adolescent girls are aware of their rights
and know about available services.
} Developing vocational training and income-generating
programmes for adolescent girls
to increase their status, independence and
opportunities in life.
} Reinforcing the capacity of local
governments to engage girls in the social,
economic and political life of the country.

11. } Education is a right, like the right to have proper
food or a roof over your head. Educating girls is a
powerful lever for their empowerment, as well as
for reducing poverty. Girls who are educated are
likely to marry later and to have smaller, healthier
families. Education helps girls to know their rights
and claim them, for themselves and their families.
Education can translate into economic
opportunities for women and their families.
} Therefore, education is not only a right but a
passport to human development. It opens doors
and expands opportunities and freedoms. It
contributes to fostering peace, democracy and
economic growth as well as improving health and
reducing poverty. The ultimate aim of Education for
All is sustainable development .

12. How?
} Believe in power of education
} Motivational talks
} I am donating 1 acre Piece of land in Suba
District –Homa-Bay County- for a School
END