Education as a tool for empowering Kenya's street children for integration in national development

Abstract

Education is an empowering process that enables those who have been marginalized in the social, economic, political and cultural spheres to claim their status as fully participating members of the society. Nevertheless, about 300,000 street children in
Kenya have had no formal education and are not proficient in the two languages
used – English (official language) and Swahili (national language)- languages in
which vital information leading to improved livelihoods and participation in national
development is available. Drawing evidence from an ongoing study on the literacy
and numeracy needs of street children in Kenya, I argue that street children need to
be equipped with appropriate knowledge through acquisition of numeracy, language
and literacy skills for them to be fully empowered to be able to participate in the
country's development.

Journal of Language, Technology & Entrepreneurship in Africa Vol. 1 (2) 2009: pp. 244-254