Home-based learning could be the solution
With schools closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, parents guide their children to use online learning tools.
A2015 study by Brian D. Ray (PhD) says “The home-educated typically score 15 to 30 percentile points above public-school students on standardised academic achievement tests” and “Families engaged in home-based education are not dependent on public-tax-funded resources for their children’s education.”
The school closures of March last year over Covid-19 forced a ‘new normal’ on parents, schools and other stakeholders, who frantically sought desperate yet creative ways of educating the students.
Many used online learning at home. While this came as a wonder to many, hundreds of Kenyan parents had practised homeschooling for over 20 years, training their children or hiring teachers for them. This group was unaffected by the shutdown.
Home-based education, popular with some middle income earners, has a parent run the school while enjoying quality time with their children.
There are different opinions on the best national approach to such a model. All, even the new Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), must undergo scrutiny.
While the CBC rollout for Grade 4 is commendable, asking the right questions and offering solutions is essential. The gaps must be filled and the nation assured of socioeconomic progression.
A report in African Journal of Educational and Social Science Research, “A Survey of Early Grade Primary School Teachers’ in Bomet East Sub-County on Teacher Preparedness for the Implementation of Competency-Based Curriculum in Kenya” says teachers are ill-equipped for CBC. Besides, a 2018 KICD report indicates that only three per cent of teachers feel adequately prepared for CBC.
Perhaps now, more than ever before, equipping parents who are interested in educating their children should be entrenched in policy. Would government train and pay such caregivers and ensure the honour is not abused? This may sound ludicrous but it could end the era of school drop-outs and secure children from bullying and other vices.
Paying school fees
Current sentiments by parents on students returning to school are based mostly on their spending on uniform, face masks, stationery and other required items.
That notwithstanding, there is the menacing headache of paying school fees, especially for those who lost jobs during the pandemic. In comparison, home-based learning is affordable.
The widespread concern on whether children are safe at school with the virus still raging cannot be overemphasised. Would learning at home, which was already happening have been a safer route?
A clarion call in the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), on Education, reverberates: “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” If ever there was a time to rethink education and open up the learning space to normalise schooling for parents, it is now!
[email protected]. @anne mbotela
