Education for Street-Connected Children in Kenya: Marginalization, Challenges, and Recommendations

Abstract

Estimates suggest there are a few hundred thousand street-connected children in Kenya. Almost by definition, these children exist outside the education system. Their circumstances are diverse, but they have often been out of school for several years or have never received any meaningful education in the first place. Broadly, the Kenyan public education system does little to reach street-connected children and lacks comprehensive and tailored programs to address their needs. Rather, they are left to mostly small, private groups—NGOs, charities, religious groups, etc.—that work with street-connected children in localized areas but cannot comprehensively solve the problem nationally. This chapter provides an overview of the state of education for street-connected children in Kenya, analyzes an example education program that has achieved some success in the Nairobi-area, and concludes with an overview and analysis of several policy options for addressing the challenges of reintegrating Kenyan street-connected children into the school system.