On 19 July, with ICJ, CEPCJ, EACHRights, and the Mathare Education Taskforce, we Launched the report: "Build Us More Schools! The Quest for Quality Free Education in Mabatini and Ngei Wards of Mathare, Nairobi." 

This report documents a variety of human rights concerns arising from the underfunding of education in Kenya. A lack of resources, including financial resources and land, is sometimes given as a reason for the failure of government to build enough public schools to accommodate all learners. Public schools that operate in Mathare are overcrowded and do not have enough teachers to provide quality education to all students.

The event had 57 attendees, who included residents of Mabatini and Ngei Wards, representatives from social justice movements, 10 persons with disabilities and 11 duty bearers. 

The Community Liaison of the Taskforce, Noah Adipo, pointed out that the recent protests in Kenya speak to important issues in our community that affect our children's education. "We need the government to prioritise resources for funding education, not just now but also into the future. While we know we have a right to education in our community, children still do not have access to free schooling. There are no public schools in Mathare's Ngei and Mabatini wards. Many children are forced to go to private schools, and the conditions at most of these schools are very bad."  

Our Associate Programme Officer Africa, Roselyne Onyango, argued in the same sense that there is a need for the Kenya government to ensure that the education budget allocation from the national revenue provides sufficient resources to guarantee the full realisation of the right to free education. "Sufficient resources mean that while education in Kenya receives a significant portion of the national revenue during budget allocation, there is a need to ensure that these funds are allocated to provide enough schools, classrooms, teachers, and learning materials to students."  

Associate Legal Adviser at ICJ, Wilson Macharia, added that it is clear that Kenyan authorities are failing to comply with their international legal obligations and domestic law regarding the right to education. "Kenya has failed to implement a number of recommendations by United Nations Treaty Bodies that specifically prescribe that it improve access to public education and better regulate the conditions at private educational institutions."

The report urges the government to implement timebound strategies that will ensure an adequate number of inclusive, quality, and free public schools in the Ngei and Mabatini ward. In their addresses, all the duty-bearers acknowledged the absence of public schools and identified a significant issue: the lack of available land to build them. 

The ward administrator Ngei, Ms. Winnifred Ogaro, stated,  "It is true that there is no public school in Ngei, and our children have to study in the neighboring wards. The problem is that a lot of the public land has been grabbed by churches, and others were given out of political goodwill during the Moi era. Getting this land back will be a significant challenge. However, the community is already showing goodwill in working with us to reclaim the land. We can find a way to collaborate on this effort. 

Also, the ward administrator of Mabatini, Mr. Joseph Mukoto, added that they "have had discussions with the  Directorate of Children Service and the Deputy County Commissioner on how to secure land for a public school in Mabatini. There has been a proposal to establish a school in Mabatini 3A, but discussions with the national government have not been fruitful." 

In her closing remarks, the Sub-County Administrator, Ms. Florence Nyaga, sustained that "the report presented to us is affluent in information. With what we have, it all depends on how we can move forward from here. One of the most critical steps is to have a community capacity-building activity on the right to education, the issue of the public land, and how we can get a school. There should be a multifaceted task force that is very inclusive, a mix of community members and representatives from the different relevant offices in the county that will be able to participate in other forums that deal with development and planning in the county and national government. 

The launch concluded with the community members coming up with the following steps to be led by the Mathare Education Taskforce to include, but not limited to: 

1. Capacity building and advocacy on the report within the community
2. The community should actively participate in public forums on development and planning at the county and national levels, including economic policies around budget allocation for education.  
3. Follow up on the land title issues and the available land in Mathare 
4. Expand the Mathare Education Taskforce to include members from the wards, sub-county, and county governments. 

You can access the report here.