Testing youth transitions in Kenya: Are young people with disabilities falling through the cracks?

Mugo J.K., Josephine Oranga, J. Singal, N.

Background

• Youth bulge– more than half of the world’s population is

below the age of 25 years– 75% of Kenyans aged below 30, 32% are 15-

30

• Extremely vulnerable category– 67 percent of the unemployed are youth, – 92 percent of unemployed youth are

untrained– 33 percent of all AIDS cases reported are of

those aged 15-30 years – 23% of girls 15-19 yrs either pregnant with

first born or are already mothers

Youth with disabilities

• Disability figures vary considerably across documents

• WHO estimate – 10% have disabilities• Critical to understand intersectionalities

(age, gender, disability type, schooling profile etc.)

• NSPD (2008), 3.6% of youth ages 15-24 have disabilities, 4% of 25-34 yrs

• YWD facing marginalization in all life spheres

• This paper – examination of transitions – 2ndry data, studies, empirical validation

Perplexity of definitions

• youth as anyone aged between 15 and 30 years (NYP 2007)

• Child – anyone under 18 years• Childhood and youthhood:

boundary?• Consensus – youth as transition

from childhood to adulthood. Unclear are markers of this transition

Youth with disability and policy• Limited documentation of youth status in the colonial era• Post independence: deliberate focus on youth

– 1966 - ‘Education, Employment and Rural Development’ conference

– 1974-78 3rd National Development Plan - youth unemployment

– 1992, a the Sessional Paper No. 2-Small Scale and Jua Kali Enterprises

– 1997-2001 Development Plan and the National Poverty Eradication Plan 1999-2015

– Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (2003-2007).

– 2005-Ministry of youth affairs, – 2007-National Youth Policy, and strategic plan 2007-

2012• Though mention of YWD, no clear strategies targeting this

sub-category• Children Act – mention of disability -no clear commitment• PWD Act (2003) – disability issues – no recognition of youth

as distinct demographic category

Conceptualizing youth transitions• “Getting it right today can have huge pay offs, as the next

generation of household heads and parents, will have profound impacts on their children” (World Bank, 2006)

• Transition - not mere biological and/or administrative, rather accompanied by ‘changes in status, both in how we see ourselves as well as how others see us’ (Dee, 2006: 8).

• Transition subject to cultural contexts (Leone & Edgar 1990).

• Dee (2006) - 3 complimentary perspectives to examine transition:– (1) phase-related model - transition as a stage– (2) agency-related model a degree of agency or control – (3) time-related model -development is more than

getting older• Our conceptualization: 5 youth transitions (World Bank,

2006).• transitions that the young undergo in learning, work,

health, family and citizenship. • Singal & Jeffery – triad – education, work, social

participation

Transition to higher levels of education• General constrained transitions, primary-secondary

(ca. 50%), secondary to public university (ca.7.5%)• more than 90% of children with disabilities not

enrolled in any learning program(1999)• Immense gains in recent past• However, only 10% of those in primary could

transit to secondary, and less than 1% into university

• Example: THB – transition rate of 0.7%. Must be worse for schools for the deaf

• Issues:– Not attaining minimum entry marks, blamed to unsuitable

curricula, teacher competence etc– Inability to afford fees for secondary and university– Low value attached to education in disability

Youth with disability and transitions to job markets

• Economic independence acknowledged as a basic entitlement for persons with disabilities

• NSPD (2008) – 22% of YWD worked for pay. - Survey did not reveal what sectors they worked in, and desegregation in terms of disability categories

• Issues:– Limitations in choice of trades– Non-preparation to employment by training

preparations– Perceptions of PWD as unable to work

• PWDA - private employer who engages a person with disabilities with required skills or qualifications will be entitled to apply for a deduction from his taxable income equivalent to 25 per cent of the total amount paid as salary and wages to such an employee

• …employer who improves or modifies physical facilities for the benefit of employees with disabilities will be entitled to an additional deduction from his net taxable income.

Youth with disabilities and social transitions

• Right of YWD to enjoy adult responsibilities promised in many policies

• Reality looks different:• “Men may not consider marrying a lady who is blind as

beneficial as they cannot do house hold work like washing clothes or cooking. The very few blind ladies who are married are married to fellow blind men, while most men who are blind are married to ladies who are

not blind” • Through numerous stereotypes, YWD

denied opportunity to social participation

Falling through the cracks?

• Despite growing numbers and striking needs, adolescents with disability have historically fallen through the cracks (Groce 2004)

• policy crack - youth are an amorphous demographic category in policy

• education system crack - certain hidden discrimination evident in the Kenyan education system

• employability crack - evident that youth with disabilities lack the competitive edge to access job markets.

• gender crack - general talk is held about youth and youth with disabilities, with little differentiation between girls and boys, women and men. Girls and women mostly on the losing end

Critical Considerations

• Policy focus – need for differentiation, policy talks generally about youth, while PWDA has no implementation schedule

• Strengthening affirmative action – university entry, job markets (especially public sector) e.g. by awarding YWD C+ JAB entry, the 0.7% transition at Thika could have improved to 28%

• Curricular adaptations – even the affirmative action may not benefit some categories, like the blind and the deaf. Need to adapt curricula and assessment

• Focus on the especially neglected categories – LD, GT, EBD, CD, Autism

• Knowledge economies – insisting on dissemination and publishing of findings, sharing forums etc. A lot of research is going on, yet no one knows what’s happening.

Question: • How can we promote academic dialogue in special education in

Kenya? • How can the policy makers and practictioners benefit more from our

findings?

Asante