[child-rights] Kenya: Aids orphans kicked out of school

Aids orphans kicked out of a Kenyan school
by John Kamau, Rights Features Service

(March 11, 2002) Some 13 AIDS orphans have been locked out of Limuru
Mission Primary in Central Kenya's Kiambu district school for failing to
pay "maintenance" fees and have been forced back to nursery school.

The move comes a week after a law on children's rights came into force in
this east African nation and three months after President Daniel arap Moi
announced that pupils in public primary schools would not be charged any fees.

The case not only puts into the spotlight the confused government policy on
"free education" but also puts question marks on the new Children's Act as
it relates to free education.

Despite a law that prohibits charging fees for public school children, some
students have been locked out of school for not paying "maintenance fees."

Deprived of an education

The 13 children are part of a 30-strong group of AIDS orphans from a shanty
slum in a poor tea farming town on the outskirts of Nairobi who are under
the care of a little-known community based organization called Belshiba
Rehabilitation Centre that has been scrapping around for money to maintain
the orphans.

"We could have paid the fees but none of our slum members has money. We
have decided to get them back to nursery school until we get money," said
Pastor Joseph Mwaura, a cleric at the Centre. Contacted the school could
neither confirm, nor deny that the children had been locked out of the school.

"The headmaster is not in, and you better ask Pastor Mwaura what they
discussed with him," said the school's deputy headmaster. "If they are not
in school they could have been given a letter to take to the parents."

Rights Features Service found the children back at the nursery where they
have spent an entire week.

The high cost of schooling

All the orphans joined the Catholic-run Limuru Mission Primary school early
this year on the strength of a letter written by a local non-governmental
organization, Shelter 2000, which pleaded with the administration to allow
the children to join the school as they looked for money.

"We delayed taking them to school because we had to buy uniforms and books
for them. We have not yet paid an admission fee, which is shillings 30,000
(US $400) plus shillings 14,410 (US $193) as maintenance fee," said Mwaura,
pleading for aid. The school said the maintenance fee must be paid first.

A week ago, Pastor Mwaura said he was told by the headmaster "not to try"
to take the orphans to Limuru Primary without the money.

"I have held meetings with him but he has told me to pay the money first,"
says Mwaura.

The pastor is afraid that the same fate may be awaiting the other 21
children who are attending nursery school at a rented ramshackle on the
outskirts of the slum.

"We have no books, and no chalk and we have also not paid rent for the
nursery. We just volunteer here to keep these children busy otherwise they
are a forgotten lot," says Mwaura at the nursery school.

The nursery-going children have no uniform and some of them are supposed to
have joined primary school.

Last year, the government made it clear that no fees would be charged on
parents whose children attend public primary schools. However, the minister
for education, Henry Kosgey, later said that parents and communities will
have to be meeting maintenance fees for the schools but said that no child
should be sent home.

The law on children's rights passed by parliament in December imposed a
minimum sentence of two years and a shillings 50,000 ($US 653) fine on
anybody denying a child the right to education.

Information by Rights News and Features Service, First Floor, College
House, University Way, P.O. Box 63828, Nairobi, Kenya. Phone: +(254-2)
311724. E-mail: rightsfeatures@alphanet.co.ke. Rights Features Service is a
Nairobi-based regional organization that uses Internet power to campaign
for human rights. With a reliable network of journalists, RFS works with
the civil society to advance and promote human rights in the region and
solicit support from the international community through information
dissemination.


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