History

In his Master’s thesis of 2015, The Kenya Basic Education Act (2013) and Role of Parents in Education, Thomas Mundia Gathure discusses the historical development of home education in Kenya.

“Historically, in Kenya, parents and society at large participated in the education of their children before the coming of the missionaries and colonial masters. The home was the setting in which education in all its forms took place. Parents today have different levels of involvement in their children’s education depending on the prevailing circumstances. Here in Kenya, and in other parts of the world, there are a growing number of parents that are returning to the old traditional model of education, before the advent of formal schooling, now popularly known as ‘homeschooling’ or ‘home education’.

“The concept of children being taught at home is, therefore, not a new one. A few things are different between the homeschooling now and that of our great grandparents. The level of formal schooling of today’s parent is higher, access to information has been radically changed by the advent of the internet and parents are more enlightened and involved in the character development of their children and influence over the content of their education.”

“Education in Kenya has witnessed a shift in ownership and management in the last 100 years from parents and community in the pre-colonial period to foreign missionaries and now to the State. While the State assumes a more primary and central role in the control of education, a new problem arises regarding choice and freedoms for other stakeholders. The recent enactment of the Kenya Basic Education Act (2013) following the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya (2010) has presented one such scenario in the primary and central role of the State in education as compared to that of parents.”

Legality

The Constitution of Kenya recognises the right of the child to education. Article 43 (1) (f) lists education as one of the fundamental rights of every person. Furthermore, Article 53 (1) (b) states that every child has the right to free and compulsory basic education. Nevertheless, neither of the articles limits education to the school environment.

However, Homeschooling Kenyan parents have expressed concern over provisions in the Basic Education Act 2013 that presume education can only be attained through institutionalised schools. For example, Article 28 of the Act, titled “Right of Child to Free and Compulsory Education”, states that “The Cabinet Secretary shall implement the right of every child to free and compulsory basic education” (Article 28(1)), but the tenor of the Act is that such education can only happen in the context of an institutional school.

Legal experts interviewed and formulators of the Act have confirmed that the Act neither recognises nor provides for homeschooling .

Approaches

Several Kenyan families have homeschooled their children from the early 1990s using a variety of curricula, including 8-4-4, I.G.C.S.E., and Accelerated Christian Education. A number of Kenyan children have completed their high school education through homeschooling and have been admitted to universities inside and outside Kenya, and several are already employed, while others have ventured into entrepreneurship.

Homeschool Support Groups

The support groups in Kenya are broadly referred to as co-ops. A Co-op is a group of parents who live in Kenya and have chosen to homeschool and meet regularly for support. The Coops get together frequently to organize events such as field trips sports, arts and crafts, and provide equipment.

The coops are located on Mombasa Road for ACE home schools boasting 50 families, Ngong Road, Karen etc. The groups are scattered all over East Africa and meet annually for East Africa Community of Homeschoolers conference.

Other organizations that provide support, information and access to resources are Elimu Nyumbani, Nairobi Home School & Tuition Limited, and Home School Foundation.

HOMESCHOOLING IN UGANDA
Uganda’s education, like in the many developing countries, as if they haven’t gone through enough yet, the battle is just beginning. There has been countless reforms in the education system since colonial times, but a lot still remains to be desired. Apart from the fact that the traditional, informal, education system Africans had was a type of Home-education, modern homeschooling is just experiencing a renaissance in Uganda. It is a new phenomenon acquired mostly from western missionaries. There are about 300 national families in Uganda who have adopted the idea of homeschooling today (Kyazze, 2019). According to two organizations around which homeschoolers are coordinated, there is a growing enthusiasm everyday. This is largely attributed largely to two reasons; the failing conventional formal education system, which according to many studies it is the worst in East Africa (OWEZO, 2015), and the growth of the Christian convictions among families that education is a responsibility of parents according to Bible believers (Kyazze, 2019).

There is not so much research done or literature available from the Ugandan perspective on homeschooling. But according to the author, in his recent study on the subject, there is mixed feeling from government about the idea of homeschooling. The state is not yet clear on what their position should be on the subject. Some think it is not a good idea and would advise parent to desist from it. While others would rather have homeschool parents mobilize themselves and seek legal recognition. According to Uganda’s constitution, homeschooling is not specifically mentioned. However, article 34 (2) states that “basic education is compulsory and is a responsibility of the state and the parent”.

But all in all, the few homeschool parents have a lot of good to say about the results of their experiment. Some parents have young men and women who have graduated from Universities and were homeschooled all through high school. Where as, majority of the families who are currently homeschooling their children are still in the elementary years. Usually these parents are the type who can afford to access curricula published from the USA, UK and other western parts of the world. This is one of the challenges for homeschoolers or those who are considering it. There isn’t yet alternative teaching and learning materials developed locally. Another challenge is the fact that education in Uganda is a highly monopolized enterprise of the state. Every child must sit a state sanctioned assessment to qualify as having attained an education of a sort. Employers have not helped either, for it does not matter what you know, but one must posses a paper indicating that they have sat a state sanctioned test to qualify for most jobs. This partly is the reason education has become like a god for most people.

Godfrey Kyazze
Homeschool parent and advocate.