Barack recently sat for his national exams (for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Examination) and scored 397 out of the total 500 marks. Throughout his schooling, Barack spent much of his free time at Elimu Resource Centre (ERC) studying from the vast collection of digital content and books on the shelves.
Barack’s parents could not afford to buy him the text books he needed at school, but he always knew that he could catch up if he made use of the books at the ERC. Over the years, Elimu Resource Centre became his safe spot. He would revise, do his homework, and even study ahead of his syllabus.
Barack’s story resembles that of thousands of the learners we serve at the Centre. The need among learners for access to textbooks and revision materials continues to be pressing in many local schools in Malindi. At Elimu Resource Centre, students find a bright conducive learning environment, all the resources they need, in digital or paper format, and an active workspace to interact with peers. As they learn how to use the Kindles, tablets and computers they also gain much needed digital literacy.
The state of education in Kilifi County, where Elimu is located, is worrying. There are less than 800 primary schools and not even 200 secondary schools. The challenges of insufficient teachers, textbooks and libraries continues to hinder learners’ access to education, contributing greatly to poor performance and high rates of school dropouts.
Barack joined us recently again and shared his joy and gratitude as he prepares to move on to high school. Click here to watch Barack’s encouraging message.
We continue to work towards lessening the barriers to quality education for vulnerable students in Kilifi County by providing the resources they need and encouraging them to achieve high performance and school completion. We believe that by growing learners’ reading culture and digital literacy, we are contributing to their personal development and in return that of the whole community.
We invite the support of state and non-state actors to join our efforts to increase academic and technological proficiency, improve primary and secondary school retention rates and encourage self-sustainability among young graduates. You can contribute by making a donation on our website, www.Elimu.ca, towards textbooks, storybooks and digital reading devices such as tablets and Kindles. Together, we can change the trend of the state of education in Kilifi County.