Exploring Sexuality Education and the Burdened Teacher: A Participatory Approach in a Rural Primary School in Kenya

Twenty-five years since the onset of HIV/AIDS, young people aged 15–24 now make up half of new HIV infections. This paper advocates for comprehensive sexuality education as an effective panacea to reverse this, with teachers stepping up and embracing their role as sexuality educators. The exploration of this challenge is informed by a small-scale participatory study of teacher responses in a rural primary school in Nakuru district, Kenya. Dialogue was held with 18 teachers (11 females, seven males) on the challenges they faced in teaching sexuality education and teachers emerged as disorientated and embarrassed in conversations about sexuality issues with the pupils. Because sexuality education lacks a curriculum, teachers have found it challenging to integrate it into regular subjects; they also observed that parents seem resistant to addressing this at home, and thus this task falls to them.
In the study, a process of self-awareness of the need for them to step up and teach sexuality education emerges among the participants. A key finding is that participatory and dialectical interventions that can prepare teachers and develop their confidence in teaching sexuality education are required.     

Exploring Sexuality Education and the Burdened Teacher: A Participatory Approach in a Rural Primary School in Kenya

Abstract

Twenty-five years since the onset of HIV/AIDS, young people aged 15–24 now make up half of new HIV infections. This paper advocates for comprehensive sexuality education as an effective panacea to reverse this, with teachers stepping up and embracing their role as sexuality educators. The exploration of this challenge is informed by a small-scale participatory study of teacher responses in a rural primary school in Nakuru district, Kenya. Dialogue was held with 18 teachers (11 females, seven males) on the challenges they faced in teaching sexuality education and teachers emerged as disorientated and embarrassed in conversations about sexuality issues with the pupils. Because sexuality education lacks a curriculum, teachers have found it challenging to integrate it into regular subjects; they also observed that parents seem resistant to addressing this at home, and thus this task falls to them.

In the study, a process of self-awareness of the need for them to step up and teach sexuality education emerges among the participants. A key finding is that participatory and dialectical interventions that can prepare teachers and develop their confidence in teaching sexuality education are required.     

The socioeconomic impact of HIV/AIDS on education outcomes in Uganda: School enrolment and the schooling gap in 2002/2003

Due to high prime-age mortality—a result of the HIV/AIDS scourge, the number of orphans in Uganda continues to rise. Using the 2002/2003 Uganda National Household Survey, this paper investigates how HIV/AIDS orphan status affects schooling enrolment and grade progression. Our results show that HIV/AIDS orphans are not significantly less likely to continue schooling but are by far more likely to fall below their appropriate grade. Furthermore, we find that the schooling gaps decreases at higher levels of household welfare status—poor HIV/AIDS orphans, especially aged 13–17 years, are significantly less likely to continue schooling.     

Educational consequences of orphanhood and poverty in western Kenya

During the past decades, many developing countries have been severely hit by a combination of poverty and the HIV pandemic. However, there has been a debate about the relative contribution of these two factors. This study showed that poverty and orphanhood were two separate but interrelated factors contributing to poor schooling. There were no differentials shown based on double orphanhood or gender. We recommend that educational policies should put into consideration both poverty and orphanhood in order to increase schooling access for children affected by HIV/AIDS and poverty.     

肯尼亚新一轮免费初等教育政策剖析

2003年肯尼亚出台了新一轮免费初等教育政策,但在政策执行过程中面临教学设施、教材供应、教师资源的严重不足以及学生辍学等问题.综观这一政策,发现在决策之前缺乏深入细致的现状分析,缺乏基础广泛的讨论和协商,也缺乏政策实施的具体设计;政策执行策略上有待改善的还很多;政策本身意义重大,但执行前景则取决于经济发展、政府管理和国内外支持水平等因素.     

Early childhood education programs in Kenya: challenges and solutions

Early childhood education in Kenya serves the critical purpose of preparing young children for primary education. Notwithstanding the associated benefits for society as a whole, the government of Kenya is involved minimally. Indeed, parents are responsible for planning, developing and managing different early childhood programs. Consequently, problems such as funding and lack of program consistency are common. Because early childhood programs are essential, the government should be involved actively in the development and implementation process.     

Evaluating knowledge,attitudinal, and behavioral change effects from a multinational HIV/AIDS education program for youth

This project tracked the mid-term evaluation processes, practices, and products of a multinational program to reduce at-risk behaviors for HIV/AIDS among children in Kenya, Tanzania, and Haiti. It focused on participant and community perceptions; program effectiveness in promoting abstinence and monogamy decisions; and factors supporting ongoing resistance, decision persistence, and program sustainability. Instrumentation included focus groups and interviews with 731 participant youth, parents, community stakeholders, and staff; program documents; and expert on-site observations. Program efforts are effective in influencing informational, attitudinal, and behavioral changes across stakeholder groups. Data underscore process effects of specific program tools and features, through participant attributions. Critical relationships between internal and external factors, and collective local practices grown from program knowledge and skills, support risk reduction awareness and behaviors. Systematic evaluation, including design features, can inform similar efforts across national and cultural boundaries. Effective strategies are highlighted and linked to community perceptions and program outcomes.     

Influence of mothers' education on children's maths achievement in Kenya

Research shows that fathers' level of education predicts achievement of both boys and girls, with significantly greater effect for boys. Similarly, mothers' level of education predicts the achievement of girls but not boys. This study tests the mother–child education achievement hypothesis, by examining the effect of mothers' education on the maths test score of children, using data from 71 schools across 6 districts in Kenya. The findings of a multilevel random intercept model, based on a sample of 1907 learners reveal surprisingly negative effect of mothers' education on pupil's achievement, with an interaction effect of mother's and father's education being positive.     

Quality assurance for public higher education: context,strategies and challenges in Kenya

Quality assurance (QA) mechanisms used to be highly dependent on national administrative traditions but nowadays there is a convergence of mechanisms. Compared to more developed higher education (HE) systems in the world, QA systems in Africa are still at an infant stage and thus confronted by many challenges. The purpose of this article is to present some of the findings derived from a study analysing the crucial issues and unique challenges facing Kenya's public HE as it struggles to develop QA mechanisms. Using purposive sampling, the researcher chose two public universities who indicated their willingness to participate and a national QA Agency (QAA). The study was done through in-depth interviews and a review of historical materials and records. Overall, respondents strongly emphasised the need for Kenyan universities to have compulsory and effective external and internal QA mechanisms. They indicated that the trends facing HE make it necessary for HE in Kenya to review their traditional QA structures and to create new systems of external QA. The numerous comments in this research indicate deficiency not only in the QAA focus and work but also in the internal QA frameworks within public universities.     

Higher education in Kenya: an assessment of current responses to the imperative of widening access

Higher education is a key factor in a nation’s effort to develop a highly skilled workforce for competing in the global economy. In this paper, current trends in accessibility, equity, participation and financing of higher education in Kenya are examined. The paper explores the challenges which need to be confronted and discusses the way forward for reforming higher education policies in Kenya to widen access and advance equity by suggesting a number of strategies. It highlights the need for programmes and policies focusing on improving access to quality secondary education experiences; increasing aspirations and application to higher education; and the improvement of policies on financial support to disadvantaged students through the already existing Higher Education Loans Board. It concludes with a number of recommendations including a new revenue allocation particularly to the rising numbers of higher education aspirants from low income, rural, ethnic minorities and women.     

RESEARCH SECTION: The acceptability of psychosocial support interventions for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS: an evaluation of teacher ratings

The AIDS epidemic has created many orphans around the globe. A majority of these orphans live in sub‐Saharan Africa. Children orphaned by HIV/AIDS face many daunting challenges in their struggle to cope with life. The issues they face due to the loss of their parent(s) include poverty, the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS and stress. This study carried out by Morgan Chitiyo of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Darlington Changara of Midlands AIDS Caring Organisation and George Chitiyo of Tennessee Technological University discusses how different psychosocial and educational interventions have been developed to help the children to overcome these challenges. However, few of the interventions have been empirically tested to determine their efficacy. The authors set out to evaluate the treatment acceptability of a psychosocial support programme using a group of teachers who had received training and were participating in the implementation of the programme across their schools. Findings from the study indicate high acceptability ratings of the programme.     

Policy scripts and students' realities regarding sexuality education in secondary schools in Kenya

This paper explores the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) policy context and the realities facing in-school young people in Kenya. It is based on a review of the health and education sector policy documents as well as data from self-administered questionnaires with 3624 male and female students from eight secondary schools in Nairobi. Findings show that although the policies emphasise the right to access accurate SRH information, there are restrictions on the content of messages that can be provided to in-school young people. At the same time, students continue to be exposed to the risks of undesired SRH outcomes and quest for comprehensive SRH information. The findings suggest that as policy-makers, parents, teachers, civil and faith-based organisations debate about the value and content of sexuality education in schools, it is important to consider the views and experiences of students who are the intended beneficiaries of such education.     

Parental aspirations for their children's educational attainment and the realisation of universal primary education (UPE) in Kenya: Evidence from slum and non-slum residences

There is a sound research base attesting to the importance of parental involvement and to the many potential benefits it can offer for children's education. This study sought to examine differences in parental aspirations (as a mechanism of parental involvement in their children's education) for their children's educational attainment between slum and non-slum residing parents in Kenya. The study used cross-sectional household data for a sample of 4065 parents, collected in 2007 by the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC) in Nairobi. A multinomial logistic model was used for the analysis to explore the factors determining parental aspirations. The results indicate the following: (i) that parents who live in the slums have lower aspirations for their children's educational attainment when compared to those who live in non-slum areas; (ii) that parents in the slums have aspirations for higher levels of educational attainment for their children than their own levels of education. We conclude that parents in urban Kenya have a strong belief in the education of their children irrespective of their slum or non-slum residence but aspirations are higher in non-slums than in slums.     

‘Culturespeak’ is everywhere: an analysis of culturalist narratives in approaches to sexuality education in Mozambique

ABSTRACT

Building on postcolonial feminist scholars and critical anthropological work, this paper analyses the frequent deployment of the notion of ‘culture’ by decision-makers, educators, international agency staff and young people in the design, delivery and uptake of sexuality and HIV prevention education in Mozambique. The paper presents qualitative data gathered in Maputo, Mozambique to highlight the essentialising nature of culturalist assumptions underpinning in-school sexuality education. I argue that conceptions of ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ culture are deployed to explain the epidemic, both of which spectacularise and decontextualise phenomena and practices, and perpetuate the western trope of the Third World Woman. The paper concludes by arguing that a singular emphasis on ‘culture’ – in its various guises – diverts attention from structural causes of young Mozambican women and men’s vulnerability to HIV and AIDS, and crucially, rather than problematise gender relationships, reifies and solidifies these. Thus, while sexuality and HIV prevention education cannot be understood or delivered independently of the cultural context in which it is situated, a more nuanced conception of culture is required – that is, one that is attentive to questions of power and specifically, who is in a position to make meanings ‘stick’.     

Changing the course: equity effects and institutional risk amid policy shift in higher education financing in Kenya

Reform in higher education financing in Kenya has been occasioned by both endogenous and exogenous variables. Internal pressures of a declining economy, rapid demographic growth and increased inter-and intra-sectoral competition for scare financial resources, couple with external neo-liberal doctrine championed by global donors like the World Bank have resulted in a new market-competitive policy of financing higher education. This paper analyzes the equity and risk effects of the new policy for the main stakeholders, namely students, academics and institutions themselves. The paper contends that the policy shift has had a significant effect on equity just as it has introduced universities to risks through engagement in academic capitalism with its emphasis on marketization of university programs and services. The paper concludes with suggestions on some policy options that could help to mitigate the negative consequences of this new policy.

Higher education marketisation and its discontents: the case of quality in Kenya

This study addresses the implications of higher education marketisation for quality in Kenya. It focuses on full fee-paying programmes, the de facto market source of revenue for Kenya’s public universities. The study argues that Kenya’s public universities were precipitately subjected to diminished public capitation, and so was their plunging into marketisation. These institutions started enrolling full fee-paying students at a time when they were strained in terms of institutional capacity. There were not enough physical facilities, and most of those available were suffering decay following many years of neglect. They did not have enough teaching staff, a problem, which the marketisation agenda has made worse. The desire to claim a bigger share in the student market has seen the introduction of many new courses in advance of capacity to offer them. The study concludes that by seeking economic self-determination through full fee-paying programmes, in advance of a well-developed institutional capacity, the subsequent pressure seems to have made the quality situation worse.     

服务型教育体系:区域高等教育发展的新模式

为实现教育发展与经济发展的良性互动,促进区域经济社会的和谐发展,作为我国经济最为发达的城市之一,宁波市率先提出构建服务型教育体系的新思路。构建服务型教育体系,对于转变区域高等教育发展模式,推进高等教育制度创新,实现区域教育结构与产业结构的成功耦合具有积极的作用。     

The impact of HIV/AIDS on primary education in Botswana: educating children as agents of change

HIV/AIDS can no longer be regarded solely as a public health issue as its impact extends well into all spheres of life, sectors of society and levels of the education system. This paper argues that not only is it paramount to draw on children's understanding of the impact of AIDS on their lives, but it is equally important to draw on their solutions in order to foster their agency. Using the ‘draw and write’ methods, this research explores children's perception of the impact of HIV/AIDS and their understanding of the capabilities needed in order for them to become active change agents. The findings indicate that short-term intervention programmes are insufficient in curbing the HIV trends and in mitigating its impact. The authors argue that there is now a paramount need to re-evaluate the role and goal of education to allow it to serve as a prophylaxis for HIV/AIDS.     

Access,poverty and learning achievement for primary school leavers in Kenya: analysis of evidence from 47 counties

To what extent, if at all, did the introduction of free primary education in Kenya in 2003 have positive equity effects, in terms of both access and achievement. Access is based on the number of candidates sitting the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination and the KCPE score is used to measure achievement levels. The study uses data that reflects Kenya’s 47 devolved governance counties. A quantitative measure of poverty in all 47 counties was then entered as an independent variable of regression analysis, and a negative association with KCPE performance noted (high poverty levels associated with low KCPE scores). Also noted was a contrast between counties showing high enrolment impact and improved KCPE scores, and those showing high enrolment impact and lower KCPE scores. Counties in the former group are located almost entirely in arid and semi-arid areas, those in the latter group in the coastal region.     

The aims of special education schools and units in Kenya: a survey of headteachers

The paper reports a questionnaire survey of headteachers of special schools and special units in Kenya, focusing in particular on their educational aims. The study is located in the broader context of special educational provision and developments in Africa. These include the colonial legacy, the influence of indigenous and traditional concepts of education and disability, and national policies engaging with issues of curriculum and inclusion. The aims the headteachers said were important were wide-ranging and included conventional academic achievement, personal and social development and citizenship, alongside skills of personal care and the control of difficult behaviour. However, the relative emphasis given to different aims suggests that the importance of traditional aims of special education in terms of control, containment and care still outweigh those of a broad and balanced educational provision. Surprisingly, there was relatively little emphasis on the importance of preparation for employment. The analysis suggests that although there have been rapid developments in the provision for special educational needs in Kenya, there remains a gap between the ambitions of national policy and actual provision at school level.