Bright children who won’t join Grade 10 story hid bursaries rot
Top row: Elector Awino (left) Felix Kimani, Frida Kabibi and Stephen Ikahu. . Middle row: Stephanie Wanjeri, Sherly Akinyi, Quinton Mwangi and Praise Mawia. Bottom row: Patrick Muiruri, Pamela Odhiambo, Bennet Treezer and Bobby Otieno.
The stories only scratch the surface, as thousands of needy cases won’t be highlighted.
The stories call for a national, corporate and individual conversation on the state of the country.
Why did the Daily Nation’s editor lead the coverage of Monday, January 12, with the story highlighting the plight of 17 children whose hopes of joining Grade 10 were dimmed by their families’ circumstances? More than to tell the children’s individual stories, this coverage was symptomatic of a bigger problem.
The children are a symbol of a system that is failing its most needy members. A system that is cannibalising itself. The stories only scratch the surface, as thousands of needy cases won’t be highlighted. No wonder the big story yesterday was that only 300,000 of the over 1.1 million learners had reported to their respective senior schools by Wednesday. Some 800,000 children are still at home for reasons including lack of fees and the quest to change institutions.
