The recent admission by the government that it can no longer sustain free primary education is a betrayal of a national promise that has transformed the lives and fortunes of many Kenyans.
While education, which is the most basic and consequential form of empowerment is collapsing, flashy token programs in exchange for political support, disguised as empowerment, have taken over.
Today, the joy of excelling in exams is short-lived for many families as the reality of exorbitant cost of education kicks in when students are set to transition to secondary and tertiary institutions. Parents have now been warned that they are set to dig deeper into their pockets to fund the education of their children because capitation to schools have been reduced and delayed.
The new university funding model is shutting the door on thousands of bright young minds. The Auditor General has rightly pointed out that the model is a failure of imagination and the dream of accessible, quality education for all is slipping away for political expediency.
As a country, we have begun punishing academic excellence instead of rewarding it. The question we must never cease asking is what kind of future are we building if education is no longer a national priority?