The Importance and Value of an Education

Parent and Student Speaker Series

Karimu’s partnership with the schools of Ayalagaya, and now Arri, have a long history, starting with the inception of Karimu in 2008.  Classrooms, bathrooms, teachers’ houses and professional development are just a few examples of the ways we have supported education and still continue to do so. Karimu started tracking school attendance in 2019 as part of the metrics we collect. It became apparent that student attendance in primary and secondary schools was lagging. In 2020, Karimu decided to look at ways to increase student attendance and the engagement of students. Our staff, in consultation with teachers in the community, designed a comprehensive outreach program designed to educate the students and parents about the importance of education. Community role models and Karimu staff go to each school to speak on the importance of education with these goals in mind:

• To highlight the value of an education to the student, his/her parents and the community at large

• To expand the students’ understanding of why it is important to continue their education and what is possible 

• To highlight local professionals and respected members of the community and have them tell their story of how education has impacted their lives

• To raise the awareness of parents about opportunities and possibilities for their children

• To highlight the positive impact an education can have, not only on the individual, but on the entire community

• To better understand and identify the barriers to students attending school

Each school has 3 sessions in this program.  As an added incentive, schools receive sports equipment for the students to use at recreation time. At the conclusion of this program, feedback from parents, teachers and students will be collected and attendance data will be analyzed to see the effectiveness of the program.

June 2022 Update: The first round of meetings on the importance of education is complete. The program was well received by parents, teachers and students. Attendance was high and participants were very engaged. The presentations allowed for questions and discussions about important issues such as parent responsibility in a child’s education, the importance of teacher- parent communication, and the value and impact of educated citizens on the community.

Excellent suggestions were given to inform the next round of meetings:

• The inclusion of village leaders so they can emphasize the importance of education in the community meetings they hold,  

• Teachers to expand on and continue to emphasize these ideas in their classrooms

• Parent - teacher collaboration and communication

• More frequent meetings between parents and teachers

The next steps for the program will be the second round of meetings with different community speakers, discussion of suggestions with those involved and how Karimu can support implementation of these suggestions and, finally, support the schools implementation of this program independent of Karimu. 

August to November 2022 Update:

The second round of meetings on the importance of education is complete. The program continues to be even more well received by parents, teachers and students. Attendance was high and participants were very engaged. The village leaders were invited and attended these meetings.  The speakers for round 2 continued to be impressive and covered all the topics and answered all questions. These speakers are known and well respected within the community. The speakers emphasized to parents how supporting your child’s education will help the whole family and community. For example, education will:

• Bring respect to the family

• Give your children and the family many opportunities in life

• Increase your child/children’s capacity for responsibilities at home

Feedback from this round:

• Parents and students are very thankful for these meetings

• Parents would like more frequent meetings 

• Parents understand that change in attitudes toward education takes time

The next steps for the program will be to follow up with the school and make sure they include these meetings in their school calendar. There will be a follow up with Tssayo Primary school to discuss the continued low attendance rate of boys.

February to May 2023 Update:

The third round of meetings continued with the schools arranging these meetings independently of Karimu.  Excellent guest speakers who are highly regarded in the community spoke to the teachers, students and parents. These speakers emphasized the value of prioritizing school, studying hard, and performing well on the national exam. Religious leaders, engineers and doctors were among the speakers this round.  The speakers used themselves as examples and told their own stories of how education allowed them to:

• Know people from different places,

• Use their knowledge and thinking skills to help their family and community

• Bring respect to their family and community

Feedback from this round:

• Parents and students are very thankful for these meetings

• Parents want to know if education will help their child get a job

• Parents would like more frequent meetings with teachers 

• Parents understand that change in attitudes toward education takes time

The next steps for this program will be to do a second round for 2023, evaluate the progress,  and then decide whether to continue the program.

Update Dec 2024: Tracking school attendance over two years, we have seen mixed results with minor improvements in some schools and minor drops in others. We suspended the program until it can be re-prioritized and all the data analyzed to decide if it is as effective as other incentives for increasing enrollment.

Benefits:

• Parent education on benefits of their child completing their education

• Helping children see what’s possible with an education

Cost: $6354