The Klub Ujuzi innovation was created to address critical issues and gaps within the Kenyan education system and rural communities. Despite progress in expanding primary education access, actual literacy and numeracy outcomes remain deficient. This deficiency is partly from a lack of support for essential life skills promoting livelihood, mental health, and learners' overall well-being.
Furthermore, schools along the Tsavo landscape face persistent challenges: hunger, poor attendance, and low classroom retention. These issues are linked to learners' backgrounds, poverty, drought, a lack of parental support, and no adult support for orphans or children in child-led homes. Many students attend school hungry, which adversely affects their academic performance and access to quality education. The prolonged pandemic exacerbated these problems, leading to an increase in pre-teen and teenage pregnancies in rural schools, causing many learners to drop out.
Another key driver is the observed deficit in core life skills among children and the lack of proper tools for parents to teach financial literacy. The program aims to provide lasting solutions by offering comprehensive training in life skills, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and mental health and well-being. Another gap identified was the near-total absence of financial literacy education in primary schools, despite the prevalence of community practices like table banking, which indicates a readiness for such knowledge.
Klub Ujuzi targets 10-14-year-olds in rural Kenyan primary schools, extending to youth aged 10-24. It teaches financial literacy (savings, credit, investing) through income-generating activities and life skills via agricultural practices like organic farming, beekeeping, and animal husbandry. The program fosters entrepreneurship by having learners use local resources to build things like chicken coops. Produce from these projects helps with school feeding program and learners school retention. Mental health and well-being are prioritized through safe spaces and peer support. Teachers and alumni are trained as mentors and facilitators for sustainability. Community engagement is crucial, with members, parents, and youth involved in all stages. Technology is integrated for financial tracking and learning, and schools serve as community hubs for various activities. The program is aligned with the existing education curriculum.
The Klub Ujuzi innovation has been actively spreading, and after four years, it is now implemented in three schools. Additionally, an adult focus group training, based on the club, has been designed this year, involving parents from three schools. The aim of this training is to create "Train the Trainer" (T3) participants from these parents, who can then scale the model in other schools and further increase its reach.
Elimu Fanaka's broader strategy for scalability includes introducing Klub Ujuzi into the Kenyan education curriculum in the future and engaging strategic partners from both the private and public sectors. This involves establishing robust T3 programs to recruit and train new members, and creating community-based mental health and well-being hubs within partner schools. They also work closely with government ministries, school administrations, teachers, parents, and youth groups to build valuable partnerships for continued growth and expansion. All Elimu Fanaka programs are designed for easy replication and adaptation to diverse cultural norms, making Klub Ujuzi a model that can be replicated globally due to its adaptable financial model and mental health content for young people.
We have expanded our innovation by designing an adult focus group training, based on the Klub Ujuzi club, which currently involves parents from three schools. The primary goal of this initiative is to empower these parents as "Train the Trainer" (T3) participants, enabling them to further scale the model in other schools and broaden its reach within the community.
To establish Klub Ujuzi in your county, schools, and community, begin by understanding its core concept: a financial literacy club for 10-14-year-olds in rural primary schools. The club focuses on table banking, life skills through agricultural activities such as organic farming using sunken beds for arid areas, animal husbandry, and overall well-being. Designed for easy global replication, the program offers adaptable content for financial literacy and mental health, which can be tailored to local cultures. Key strategies for scaling include a robust Train the Trainer model for teachers and alumni, creating school-based mental health hubs, and building partnerships with government, school administrations, parents, and youth groups. The program prioritizes stakeholder and community engagement, with learners electing a project management committee. When implementing, consider potential challenges such as slow recruitment of older youth, different learning speeds in training, security issues like human-wildlife conflict, financial risks, vandalism, agricultural threats, low morale, and limited parental support. Address these through targeted solutions such as solar electric fences, Paybill payment systems for easy tracking, agricultural officer training, mentorship, and parental sensitization.
