Volunteer Nursery School Kenya
Volunteer as a teacher at a nursery school in Kenya
Volunteering at a nursery school is a welcome gift to the entire nursery school system in Kenya. Recent years, many teachers left the system because of very low salaries and poor working conditions. As a volunteer you will help in teaching the kids some words, learn them to play together respectfully and do all kinds of creative and playful programs to stimulate their imagination and improve all kinds of skills they can use while they grow up. Because of a shortage in nursery school teachers, your volunteer tour in Kenya´s nursery school system will be much appreciated. You should know a little bit more about the history of this shortage in teachers and how it developed over time.
What you should know about nursery schools in Kenya before you volunteer
From 1982 till 2003, there has been an increase in enrolment of little children (aged 3-6) in this system from 480.000 to 1.2 million in 2003.In this year, the government started to change the entire system to stimulate education for all children. The Free Primary Education program in Kenya has been a big success though many things have to improve. The FPE program services children from the age of 6 till the age of 13. However, because of the low cost of the FPE-system, many parents in Kenya wait until their kids reach the appropriate age to go to this "free of charge" school system, and not enrol them earlier in the so called ECD-schools (Early Childhood, Development and Education), which services children below the age of 6. As a result, Kenya´s popular free school system has consequences on education for the very small ones. Decreased enrolments in the nursery schools meant reduced salaries for ECD teachers and it is getting harder to get well trained nursery school teachers every year.
Requirements for a nursery school volunteer
Butterfly4Volunteers has projects for you in Lamu and Mombasa. Both teaching positions need some skills and requirements to be able to work there. As a volunteer you should:
- At least have a diploma on education and training
- Should be vetted by the government
- Should be ready to volunteer for 3 or 6 months
- Should be able to work in hardship areas
- should be of age 18 years and above
Your help as a teacher is much appreciated
As you have read, the ECD-system heavily depends on payments from the parents themselves, and is not free of charge. The deteriorating circumstances in many nursery schools is a direct result of the funding difference between the "expensive" ECD and the "free of charge" FPE-system. Many educators and officials in Kenya are aware of the situation and are constantly working to change this situation. Butterfly4Volunteers tries to help with well trained teachers and volunteers from abroad who are willing to spend a couple of months in Kenya´s educational system. Your help will not only improve the situation locally, but will have influence on the starting conditions of many kids. Your help will be much appreciated, not only by us, but also by hard working parents who need their children to be educated.