As you know, this is a series about why Kenya should be put in rice and left there overnight- just to see if the same miracle that works on a phone battery that fell in water can work on the country.

This month, Kenya suggested it might pay its early childhood education teachers a mere 7000 shillings. But on prompting, they clarified that that number, in fact, only referred to basic pay without factoring in allowances. The gross salary of kindergarten teachers will continue to be capped at minimum wage of Sh. 15,120. While the teachers’ salaries continue to be dismal, the cost of education continues to rise.

This increasing cost of education as teachers earn minimum wage is happening in a country where it is cheaper to go to the best-ranked university than to go to many kindergartens. The cost of going to University of Nairobi in Kenya is just 16000 shillings thanks to government subsidies. In contrast, here are the costs of tuition fees at some of the top 20 ranked schools in Nairobi:

School Fees for the best-ranked kindergarten schools across Kenya rival those of the best-ranked university education in the country

Tuition fees per trimester for schools ranked among the 20 best in the country are higher than those at University of Nairobi.

Makini Ngong Road Academy

Acacia Crest Academy

Fred's Academy

High Peak

Gilgil Hills Academy

Sally Ann School

Lily Academy

Premese Makueni Academy

best-ranked university in Kenya costs 32000 shillings a year

which is lower than best-ranked kindergartens in the country

Chemitan Academy

Pleasant View Academy

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

Tuition in Shillings

Despite low wages, taxes in Kenya are high. Income and corporate tax are 30%, and sales tax is 16%.

Yet even such analyses from government estimates do not represent the situation on the ground. A comparison between the cost of items according to the government’s statistics bureau compared to the cost of items at the most popular supermarkets shows the real cost of items is much higher than government data suggests. If the government has a secret corner where it is buying items from, they should at least let the kindergarten teachers in on it.

More female than male teachers teach early childhood education, and women account for 84 per cent of all trained teachers in ECDE centres. Yet these teachers are less and less able to afford basic commodoties