Kenya’s former education system, known as the 8-4-4 system, was introduced in 1985 and structured around 8 years of primary education, 4 years of secondary, and 4 years of university.
Unfortunately, many pupils from underserved communities never make it to high school. Despite their potential and willingness, the financial burden of school fees and required items is simply too high. As a result, many return to the streets — where they are highly vulnerable to gang recruitment, trafficking, prostitution, early marriage, drug and alcohol abuse, crime, and rape.
All our students at Roots Institute Centre dream of continuing their education - many even aspire to join boarding schools, where they can focus on learning in a safe, structured environment, away from the risks of the slum. Boarding school is often their best chance to build a brighter future.
However, none of these children can afford the cost of secondary education.
In 2022, we launched our High School Sponsorship Program to support the best-performing students from Grade 8 at Roots Institute Centre in accessing secondary education. That year, we proudly fully sponsored 11 students to join boarding high schools - a transformative step for them and a milestone for us.
Today, our organization supports 25 youths attending boarding high schools under the former education system.
Supporting one child in boarding school for a full year costs €750, covering all essential expenses — from school fees, learning materials, and uniforms to personal supplies, accommodation needs, and transport to and from school three times a year.
Kenya’s former 8-4-4 education system has been gradually phased out and replaced by the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), introduced in 2017. The new system follows a 2-6-3-3-3 structure: 2 years of pre-primary, 6 years of primary, 3 years of junior secondary, 3 years of senior secondary, and 3 years of university education.
With the shortening of the primary cycle, and due to the lack of adequate infrastructure at Roots Institute Centre to accommodate Junior High School, some children found themselves out of school as early as age 12 - putting them at risk of early marriage, being forced into casual labor to survive and support their families, or ending up in the street. The transition to the CBC has also placed an additional financial burden on families, requiring the purchase of new textbooks, uniforms, and other materials.
In response, and with the support of our partners, we made the decision in January 2023 to ensure that our former Grade 6 students, after completing their KPSEA exams (Kenya Primary School Education Assessment), could enroll in a nearby public day school - easily accessible for children living in the slum.
Today, we are proud to support 81 students in Junior High School: 45 girls and 36 boys.
