CORE SERVICES: Education

These are services aimed at ensuring that vulnerable children receive educational and vocational opportunities in accord with community norms and market-driven employment options. Further, they aim to ensure that school programs at all levels take into account the special needs of vulnerable children in terms of sensitizing teachers to identify signs of distress, promoting the availability of support groups and counseling services, supporting efforts to make curricula more flexible and responsive, and supporting anti-stigma programs. Services include:
1) Child level:
Teule Kenya aspires to support all the children through school to the highest level possible. It provides links with sponsors to enable these children attend school high school and even get tertiary education. Although the government has decided to subsidize both primary and secondary education, there are certain expenses that the caregivers are supposed to provide for and thus still many children are faced with a challenge of meeting those expenses. Teule Kenya seeks to support these expenses.
Primary School Education
While the government has implemented the free primary education programme, there are still challenges facing caregivers and challenges that act as an inhibition to children in our programmes. These challenges are caused by difficulties in their environment, their educational background most of which are poor and poverty in their homes thus the caregivers cannot afford to pay for lunch and extra tuition. They need help to cater for these expenses and also meet the lunch expenses. HCI Kenya supports them through this period by paying for such expenses while working hand in hand with the schools and the caregivers.
Teule Kenya runs a primary school in Oloitokitok District called Kibo slopes Academy that primarily serves the children in Chombo Cha Upendo Home and is also income generating in that it admits fee paying children from the community.
Secondary School Education
On average it costs Kshs 50,000 annually to maintain a child in Secondary public schools in Kenya. The cost include School fees (Kshs 30,000), Uniforms, Bus fares (to & from school including mid-terms); Medical fee, Toiletries, Extra Text Books, Pencils, Pens, Calculators, etc. The guardians/caregivers are encouraged to participate by providing one time basic items like cups, plates and spoons at the time the child is reporting to Form 1. They also participate in getting a school for the child and making follow-up visits to the school. However, the guardians’ responsibility can only be stretched so far as they all live below the poverty line, and many of them have their own children and therefore, all they provide for the children in our program is a social safety net.
Two thirds of the children in our program have individual sponsorships from various sources, but these funds only cover 50% of their annual costs. The balance of their costs that is not sponsored is usually covered by one time donations from well wishers, but unfortunately, their education is occasionally interrupted as they are sent away from school for lack of school fees.

College Education

Currently 20 of HCI-Kenya older children have qualified for college education, having successfully completed their secondary school education with a mean grade of C- and above. However, competition for places in Public Universities has increasingly become stiff. For example, unconfirmed reports indicate that for candidates who sat Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) in 2006, only those who scored mean grades of A- and above will get places in Public Universities in Kenya. Therefore majority of children in our program will qualify to join private universities and colleges, or diploma public colleges, but unfortunately, government bursaries are rarely extended to these institutions. HCI-Kenya current resources cannot support college education even at the diploma level, due to the high costs ranging from Kshs 75,000 to 200,000 including hostel fees and their upkeep. Currently only 3 of KCSE graduates are in college.

Vocational Training
For those of the children who do not qualify to pursue Secondary School Education, HCI-Kenya seeks to equip them with skills that they can use to earn a living. This group of children requires about Kshs 150,000
· Direct assistance to subsidize school costs by payment of school levies for the 384 community based children who attend mainly Public primary and private Early Childhood institutions. Teule Kenya works in partnership with the schools to facilitate access to quality education by constant monitoring and evaluation at the school level.
· Providing support groups and counseling groups.
Encouraging extra curricula activities in school.