Hans Ochoe is a Form Four Student at Alliance Boys High School. During the last year's holiday he was involved in building and construction at the Moi Air Base Seventh Day Adventist church as part of the school learning programme where students are required to participate in two holidays of their four years undertaking community work.
Alliance is among the Kenyan schools that are aping the concept of Starehe Boys Centre Director, the late Dr. Geoffrey Griffins, whose since its foundations the students have been participating in doing various community work during the school holidays in Form Two and Form Three in various government cooperations and institutions.
Starehe is one of the Kenya secondary school that has produced “disciplined giants,” one of the old boys refers his colleagues who are who is who in the Kenyan success landscape. “Our success is founded on an education that went beyond class work that we received which enabled us to test the real world from a tender age.”
Indeed, one of the Kenyan education policy states that primary and secondary learners should get adequate knowledge and skills to enable them fit into and contribute towards the well being of the society and fit in the world of work. Such skills should enable them to earn a living and fit into a “social” world. Thus enabling learners to know how to deal with others and daily challenges in the society.
This resonates with the experiences of two old boys of Strarehe Boys Centre Thomas Gone and James Kioko who are pursuing electrical and electronics engineering at the University of Nairobi. “It planted in me a spirit of putting my best in frontier services,” says Gone, “yes, though the community service programme you learn what to expect from various careers and realize the meaning of life through your small contributions,” adds Kioko, “you develop values in life and how to relate with different situations and people.”
For Prof. Danford Msvosvi, a lecture of philosophy of education, says:“many apparently unpromising youth are richly endowed with talents that are put to no use. Their faculties lie hidden because of lack of discernment on the part of their educators.”
“Our schools need to give learners an opportunity to participate in the real world, community service - serving with experienced hands. This will lift them to higher grounds of self esteem and hard work,” he says, “their eyes will be opened to spot unlimited opportunities where they can apply their potential, even after school.”
“To provide life skills development,” reads the policy paper on “Development of Education in Kenya,” “Kenya should implement a curriculum which enable the learners to terminate his/her education at any level but having acquired skills for survival.”
This is in the backdrop of a sad fact that more than 1 million children of primary school going age are not in school due to cultural and historical factors and poverty, education for all, EFA, report indicates. Yes, only 47 per cent of those who complete primary education proceed to the 4 year secondary education. 12 per cent of this group proceed for further education in public universities. A part from those who can have a privilege to join middle level colleges for various certificate and diploma courses – the rest terminate their studies mid stream, the paper illustrates.
Hence a serious need for schools to be oriented on a curriculum that can usher well rounded graduates into the world, at any given level who can be make a living from the knowledge and skills acquired from whichever years spent in school. Thus the policy paper says that a learner who has education on electrical installations, woodwork, or metal work would be expected to fit into the world of work upon completing school.“This happens if the right “quality and quantity” of education has been offered to the learner.”
In the USA, says Garland Dulan the SDA general conference, education director, community service is a general requirement for for all college and university students – it adds credits hours towards one's graduation.
Community work gives the students an opportunity to apply what they have learned. Through it they are able to realize their innate talents and potential that blooms in the work place as opposed to class room set up. As the students engage in various community work activities they have an opportunity to come in terms with the limit of class work knowledge thus giving hard work, focus, team work, creativity there rightful place in life, he says.
Institutions of higher learning that have gone an extra mile to introduce an indirect community work programme in the premise of work – study – programme should be recommended. Since they give students an opportunity to work while studying. The University of Eastern Africa, Baraton, United States International University, Africa, Kenyatta University among other have tested this programme with sweet results registered via students who have/are learning through it – better placed to face the dynamic world.
Msvosvi says that Kenyan universities should incorporate work study programme as a unit/credit in their curriculum to give students an opportunity to size the matrix of chances they afford. “At first we were skeptical,” says Ochoe, “but as joined various places of work – the joy of this programme flowered. It offered a wonderful world of rejuvenation after lengthy hours spent in class. You start appreciating other people's contributions.”
Starehe Boys Centre students are mainly directed to serve in government related institutions. At the end of the three weeks the officer in charge writes a recommendation latter that is forwarded to the school; while Alliance Boys student can work any place near by their residence/home locality, putting in required hours a long side a recommendation latter. The students too have been involved in mobilization – raising funds toward a noble courses, example heart surgery for children.
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