On May 13, President Uhuru Kenyatta visited Westlands Primary School, Nairobi.
He was on a tour coordinated under the Global Partnership for Education project under which Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister, also visited Cleves Cross Primary School in his country.
The session was a live online classroom link-up with schoolchildren in Kenya and the UK. It provides opportunities for pupils to engage peers across countries on global issues such as climate action and gender equality.
The purpose was to give an opportunity to the two leaders to directly engage with pupils aged between nine and 11. The two schools are part of Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning.
Interestingly, the event on the Kenyan side was marked with theatrics. Two days prior to President Kenyatta’s visit, the road leading to the school, otherwise referred to as School Lane, and the institution's front phase were tarmacked.
The front area was the first to be tarmacked, while the road was carpeted on the eve of the visit. The carpeting was done haphazardly and ran just about 150 metres long.
The roadworks team did not even notify motorists and pedestrians before embarking on the project. They ended up causing traffic jams and confusion. Most drivers had to look for alternative routes.
In the past four years, nothing had been done on the road even though it had all along been in a deplorable state characterised by potholes and narrowness, which made it difficult and dangerous for use by motorists and pedestrians.
Therefore, on the D-Day, what was meant to be an ordinary day in class was full of theatrics and stage-managed on the Kenyan side. While in the UK the class instructor was a teacher from the school, in Westlands Primary, the learners were guided by an unfamiliar face. Worse still, they were selected from different classes.
Towards the end of the session, the instructor appeared to be showing the learners when to stand and sit down. In the UK, however, the session seemed to be an ordinary day in class. It was guided by one of their teachers.
During the session, Johnson urged world leaders to invest in education. He visited the school with Julia Gillard, former Australian PM and chairwoman of the Global Partnership for Education, and spoke to President Kenyatta as part of Connecting Classrooms programme.
President Kenyatta, on the other hand, was accompanied by Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha, Basic Education PS Julius Jwan and Jane Marriott, the British High Commissioner.
The programme is an initiative through which Kenya and the UK aim to raise about Sh500 billion needed to help 175 million children from 87 low-income countries get quality schooling "...and create a high profile moment for championing education for all, with a special focus on technology and girls’ education,” a statement from State House read.
PM Johnson said supporting girls to get 12 years of quality education is one of the smartest investments the two countries can make as the world recovers from Covid-19.