Plan to abolish boarding schools terribly bad idea

The Basic Education Principal Secretary, Dr Belio Kipsang, recently shocked the country when he announced that the government had abolished boarding schools for Grades 1-9, saying the move will make education affordable. 

The shift in policy is one of the recommendations by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms (PWPER) in a report presented to President William Ruto. At a glance, this policy appears excellent, but such a major shift required intense consultations with key education stakeholders and a sessional paper drafted and approved by parliament. 

But such a decision is not easy to implement. Boarding schools are among the best institutions across the country, offering children a chance to wholly concentrate on their studies and learn how to become independent early. They are very popular with parents, partly because they have strict rules and can mould children into responsible citizens.

Christian missionaries during the colonial era, who were mainly interested in converting Africans to Christianity, felt that the best approach to do so was by isolating local children in mission schools.

They, therefore, established boarding schools. The post-Independence government found it necessary to establish boarding facilities in primary schools, especially to cater for children from distant areas.

A common argument against boarding primary schools is that they are expensive. The cost of studying in such schools is much higher than the rest.

Among other expenses, parents pay boarding fees; meet transport costs to and from schools at least twice in a term, including during half-term; shop for their children; and give them pocket money.

Critics further argue they have bred inequalities as most parents cannot afford education in the institutions. But many scholars retort that the inability of parents to send their children to boarding school is a symptom of systemic inequality in Kenya, not its cause.

Focus on poverty eradication

True, attending boarding school is correlated with income. But instead of closing down the institutions, the government should focus on poverty eradication and provide bursaries to children from poor families to ensure equitable enrollment. Admittedly, boarding primary schools make it possible for children whose homes are far to get an education. The benefits of boarding schools for grades 7, 8 and 9 thus outweigh their potential social impact.

Critics also argue that schools detach children from their parents during their formative years. That may be true but many pupils in day schools have busy parents who leave home at dawn and return late at night. As a result, there is as little parental involvement in learning for children in boarding schools as those in day institutions.

The government should take a more rational approach to boarding primary schools. Instead of abolishing boarding schools, let it come up with regulations on their establishment and operations. For instance, it can limit them to children in G7 and above.

Prof Ogula is the chairman, Society of Educational Research and Evaluation in Kenya. [email protected].