Abstract
Much of the work undertaken globally in poverty analysis and alleviation strategies relates to rural and more recently to urban areas. In the case of Kenya, Vision 2030 in its Midterm plan of 2013–2017 planned projects that touched on poverty reduction, education and protection of vulnerable children. Currently, the competence-based education is being rolled out to replace the 8-4-4 system. This chapter explores the views of youth who grew up in the Kibera slums, on their perceptions on the role of education in breaking generational poverty. Focus group interviews and survey methods were used. Findings indicate that although education plays a role in the alleviation of poverty, students who underwent the 8-4-4 system feel that it was not enough to break the cycle of poverty, despite the fact that this was its initial philosophy in 1985 when it was rolled out through a vocationalised curriculum. The youth argued that in order for education to address generational poverty, the education curriculum starting in basic education must include elements that address and reduce generational poverty. A recurring theme of the study was the youths’ belief that changing one’s mindset was the underlying ability needed to embrace opportunities that education provided.
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Wanyoike, C., Pete, J. (2022). Perceptions of Youth on the Role of Basic Education in Breaking Generational Poverty. In: Wakiaga, L.A. (eds) Women’s Contribution to Higher Education and Social Transformation. Diversity and Inclusion Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95622-6_14
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