Around the Globe

Kenya’s laws are changing. The legality of homeschooling hangs in the balance. Curriculum is scarce: it must be imported, and the cost is far above the means of the average family. Yet, an estimated 400 indigenous families are teaching their children at home.

Courtesy of Mary Muriuki HSLDA Senior Counsel Christopher Klicka and Elimu Nyumbani Director Mary Muriuki discuss the status of homeschooling in Kenya at the 2008 National Alliance of Christian Home Education Leadership Conference in Buffalo, New York.

... MARY BEGAN TO HOPE THAT HOMESCHOOLING COULD BECOME AVAILABLE TO FAMILIES ACROSS HER NATION. ...

According to longtime Kenyan homeschoolers Andrew and Mary Muriuki, homeschooling has been steadily growing over the last 10 years, and parents are choosing to homeschool for a number of reasons. Public schools are severely overcrowded (student-to-teacher ratios ranging from 50:1 to 100:1), quality of academic instruction is decreasing, and moral values are declining. Parents desire to transmit their spiritual values to their children, but private school tuition is impossibly expensive.

Discovering a New Option

In 1996, while living in Australia, the Muriukis met a group of South African homeschoolers and were excited to discover this alternative to mandatory education in institutional schools. When they moved back to Kenya in 1998, the Muriukis began homeschooling their two children, using curriculum from an Australian school.

Homeschooling Spreads

Soon, Mary began to receive inquiries from other parents about homeschooling. She received several requests to educate other children in her home and did this with the help of some additional teachers. At one point, she had 13 children attending school in her house. Unfortunately, this arrangement forced her into the role of a school administrator, which severely limited her ability to teach and influence her own children.

In 2003, Andrew and Mary reevaluated their situation in light of their original goals and decided to close the school. It was time for Kenyan parents to teach their own children—but the Muriukis were eager to help them succeed. Although some parents opted to return their children to regular school, the Muriukis were able to form a homeschool group with those who wanted to continue teaching their own children. They also founded Home School Services, an organization offering assistance such as workshops for new homeschoolers, a resource center, extracurricular activities, and legal cover. In 2004, Mary published Homeschooling My Child in Kenya to help meet the demand of inquiries about homeschooling.

A Dream: Equipping Parents

Mary began to hope that homeschooling could become available to families across her nation. Realizing that the average Kenyan family could not afford to buy curriculum or pay the fees to sustain the work of Home School Services, she would have to raise money from donors to help Kenyans homeschool.

In December 2005, she registered a nonprofit organization called Elimu Nyumbani, which means homeschool in Kiswahili, Kenya’s national language. With a current membership of 20–30 families, this volunteer-driven organization serves 35–50 children in different seasons of the year and trains parents to teach their own children.

Elimu Nyumbani’s immediate goal is to raise the money needed to expand services to support homeschooling families. It hopes to rent or purchase a facility that has an office, classrooms for co-op classes, a playground, sports facilities, a library, a computer lab, and a training/conference room. The next step will be to hire staff, write curriculum, develop a website, and publish material.

Kenya’s Changing Legal Atmosphere

There are no laws against homeschooling in Kenya. Under the constitution and the Children’s Act of 2001, parents have the right to provide education for their children. However, the term education is not clearly defined. Ministry of Education officials usually go by the definition of education in the Education Act, which only refers to education in a school setting, and they refuse to recognize homeschooling as a legal option.

The Education Act is currently being reviewed by a task force. It is uncertain whether homeschoolers will be included in new language, but Kenyan homeschoolers have formally requested that the Ministry of Education Permanent Secretary include them in the process as stakeholders. To date, they have not received a response.

The Kenyan Constitution is also in the process of change. The draft constitution so far allows parents to set up independent schools but regulates them, which would make homeschooling difficult and infringe on parents’ freedom of choice.

Please keep Kenya’s homeschoolers in your prayers as they seek to win favor with their government and continue to guide the education of their children.