Early childhood education determines a lot in the child’s educational life. It will influence his attitude, beliefs, values, and achievement. Based on these, every player should stop depending on the rules that have served us in the past or work well with the neighbour.
EARLY Childhood Education in Kenya suffers not for want of attention but because of a leaning towards not so well thought out socio-economic goals. No doubt, Kenya is a society in which success is generally measured by how many certificates one holds and hoards.
However, it is sad that either parents have abdicated their role or the society expects too much from the child. Why would that young child with feeble bones who should be enjoying the company of parents be forced to disengage to go to school? Unless we are perhaps very nostalgic about the Spartan education characterised by grit, it would be right to argue that we do more harm than good.
In the early hours of the day, these children escorted by the caretakers, do brave cold and sometimes rain to catch their school buses. Where is our humanity? Good education should work with the nature of the child and this includes growing up naturally. It should be that the child is taught to love study.
However, we have forced the Kenyan child to hate schooling at an early age. This does not augur well with our aspirations as a society. The desire to take our children to school that early can never be justified. School should cause the child to learn. Our practice does not.
But look again, when the child is going through early education, he is too young to understand abstract ideas regardless of the time taken to explain the concepts. At that age and at best, the child should be taught to appreciate the beauty in his immediate environment and positive feelings through drawings, songs, play, rest, love and sharing as opposed to intellect. Later learning should involve arousing these ideas and experiences hitherto dormant.
A few days after reporting to school, the class teachers who appear to have been educated for the military but have chosen public schools resort to corporal punishment on the children. Soon, the new school life excitement is exhausted by the child. Pretense rather than obedience then follows as a reprieve to the harsh circumstances the child is exposed to.
So here goes the question: Why then the punishment? Is it for failure to understand or for indiscipline? Just like in language acquisition, the native knowledge and early experiences are a cognitive pre-requirement in the learning process. Therefore, hitting the child cannot cause ideas to be transferred to the child. Further, it cannot be a positive stimulus or a vehicle of communication in the learning process.
As if not enough, the child is fed on economy gruel and snacks for five good days. No consideration is placed on a balanced diet that is vital for the child’s cognitive growth and development. Little wonder many children resent the food they are served at boarding facilities. It is not until the child tells you that he is sick if only to stay a day at home that a parent realises something is wrong at school.
Before long, the child is introduced to unnecessary and unhealthy classroom competition. He has to defeat the neighbour’s child, be rewarded and graduate while putting on the wolfish gown of success. Again, parents put a lot money in order to attend the graduation ceremonies and one begins to wonder whether this drama is truly appropriate.
Early childhood education determines a lot in the child’s educational life. It will influence his attitude, beliefs, values, and achievement.
Based on these, every player should stop depending on the rules that have served us in the past or work well with the neighbour. There is a need, therefore, to carefully train each child’s mind and guide him through realistically so that he can go far.
