The Vicar General of Homa Bay Catholic Church Father Francis Lesso has urged the government to address inequalities in access to education.
Father Lesso warned that the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) will increase the inequalities in access to education among children from diverse economic backgrounds
He warned that children from poor families will not access quality education due to high cost of learning materials.
Speaking to the press in Homa Bay town Sunday, the cleric expressed concerns that the manner in which CBC has been implemented has shown a great gap between children of the poor and those of the rich.
The Priest said many parents have raised complaints that most of the learning materials required were unaffordable.
Father Lesso said many parents had raised complaints of inability to afford learning materials needed from their children. “Many parents who have spoken to us say the manner in which CBC has been implemented favoured the rich,” Father Lesso said.
He said the curriculum should be implemented in a manner that gives both children of the rich and the poor equal access to education.
“Education should be equalizer for both children of the rich and the poor. Of what benefit is a curriculum that does not benefit all the citizens irrespective of the economic backgrounds?” he asked.
The Priest urged the government to ensure the curriculum is implemented in a manner that is affordable to all parents.
Meanwhile, Homa Bay County Education Network Co-ordinator Julius Omuga urged the government to provide all the pupils in primary schools medical insurance.
Omuga said primary school pupils feel discriminated because their secondary school counterparts get the medical cover.
“Junior secondary school students are going to be given medical cover yet they will be in the same institutions with their primary counterparts. It is fair if the primary school pupils also get the cover because they also fall sick,” Omuga said.
He urged schools’ managers to brief the parents promptly on the requirements for junior secondary to prepare their children well for the transition.
“There are only two weeks remaining for school opening date yet parents still don’t know the uniforms they are going to put on in junior secondary schools,” he said.
By Davis Langat
