'Non-Formal' Schools Aim to Fill Need in Kenya's Slums

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

In two thousand three, the government of Kenya established a program of free primary education for all children. But there are not enough public schools for all the children who live in the crowded slums of Nairobi.

Instead, some of these children attend what are known as non-formal or informal schools. These are supported by communities, religious groups and other organizations.

Informal schools use the national curriculum taught in public schools. But they operate largely with limited resources and without trained teachers. Education activists say the Ministry of Education rarely inspects their teaching quality, lesson notes or examination records.

They say the presence of informal schools means that Kenya has two levels of education: One for children from the slums, another for children from better conditions.

Activists say Kenya has at least one thousand six hundred of these non-formal schools. Susan Munuhe is an Education Ministry official. She says only about two hundred informal schools across the country receive money for materials under the free primary education program.

She says one slum in Nairobi, Mathari, has only about three public primary schools nearby. These can serve two thousand children at most. But she says the Mathari slum alone has more than three hundred thousand children of school age.

Diana Atieno Tujuh volunteers as a teacher at the Saint Christine's Community Center in the Kibera slum, one of the largest in Africa. She says the government has provided books for her school only one time during the past few years. Many parents do not have the money to buy books, so sometimes the teachers pay for them.

She says many students are sleepy and unable to pay attention in class because there is not enough food for them at home. For the children at Saint Christine's, the mid-day meal they are served might be their only meal all day.

A government spokesman says the government is trying to discourage informal schools. Alfred Mutua says every child in Kenya has the ability to get the same education. The government, he says, has never rejected a child from a public school. He also says the government is building more schools, but it will take time.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jerilyn Watson with Cathy Majtenyi in Nairobi.

这里是VOA特别英语发展报道。

2003年，肯尼亚政府为所有儿童设立了免费初等教育项目。但是对于居住在内罗毕拥挤的贫民窟的孩子们，却没有足够的功利学校。

相反，其中一些孩子就读于非正式学校。这些学校由社区，宗教团体或其它组织支持。

非正式学校使用的也是公立学校的国家统一课程。但是非正式学校资源有限，没有受过专门训练的教师。教育积极分子称，教育部门很少检查教学质量，课堂笔记或考试记录。

他们说，非正式学校的存在意味着肯尼亚存在两个水平的教育：一是贫民窟的孩子们所受的教育，另外一个是条件比较好的孩子所受的教育。

积极分子称，肯尼亚至少有1,600所这种非正式学校。Susan Munuhe是教育部官员。她说，全国仅有200所非正式学校可以获得免费初等教育项目提供的资金来购买资料。

她说，内罗毕一个叫做Mathari的贫民窟附近只有三所公立小学，最多可以容纳2,000名学生。但是，仅Mathari贫民窟就有30多万名学龄儿童。

Diana Atieno Tujuh是非洲最大的贫民窟之一Kibera贫民窟Saint Christine社区中心的志愿者教师。她说，在过去的几年，政府仅为她所在的

学校提供过一次课本。许多家长没钱购买课本，所以有时候教师为他们付钱。

她说，由于学生在家中没有足够的食物，上课时经常感觉到疲惫困倦，无法集中精力听课。对于Saint Christine学校的学生来说，学校供应的午餐可能是他们一天吃的唯一一顿饭。

一名政府发言人称，政府试图阻碍非正式学校的发展。Alfred Mutua肯尼亚每一名儿童都能够接受同样的教育。政府从来没有拒绝任何一个孩子就读公立学校。他还说，政府正在建立更多学校，但是这需要时间。