Innovative Approaches to Provision of Education to Former Street Girls in Kenya: A Case of Pendekezo Letu

Abstract

Pendekezo Letu (PKL), Kiswahili for "Our proposal” and also interpreted by its beneficiaries as "our right to have a choice”, is a Kenyan non-governmental organization that specializes in assisting street girls who have dropped out of school, to acquire remedial education in order to re-enter the formal school system and also increase chances of success later in life.  This paper is based on a study to establish the success of the innovation which not only deals with education for the girls rescued from the streets, but also empowerment of members of their families. The methodology for this study was largely qualitative, involving participatory approaches that included in-depth interviews with key informants, focused group discussions, and participant observations as well as document analysis. It was established that the girls undergo an intensive remedial education programme while in residence for one year. The girls are taught using mixed-grade mode of teaching and learning because they leave formal schooling at different grades to join the streets. It was also established that the siblings, both boys and girls, are facilitated to continue with education up to the highest possible levels, including university. The children, depending on interest re-enter formal schooling or otherwise join vocational training of their choice. The various trades include Beauty and Hairdressing, carpentry, mechanics, and computer literacy. The successes of the progamme includes high retention rates at 95% for the girls, and 96% for their siblings, while the challenges include, a few of the girls (less than 5%) drop out, and only small percentage of the parents (8%) accepted re-location to their rural homes.  The study recommends that the PKL model of multifaceted intervention for street children be replicated by other players and partners in the field.