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On what should be a busy morning at Kaliluni Primary School in southern Kenya, only cows are in attendance, grazing between broken classroom doors that hang open to reveal rows of empty chairs.<\/b><\/p>\n
Three years ago, more than 200 children filled this rural school with noise and activity. Now there are only five pupils – and on the day we visit they, and the only remaining teacher, are absent. <\/p>\n
As we leave the dilapidated compound, with books strewn across the floors of some classrooms, we spot a schoolgirl in uniform walking forlornly towards her home.<\/p>\n
Maureen Mwisiwa, 12, says she has been turning up to school for the past week to find herself on her own.<\/p>\n
“I feel bad missing lessons all those days while pupils in other schools are still in class,” she tells the BBC. <\/p>\n
Her mother, Josephine Muasya – like the remaining parents with children there – is planning to transfer her daughter to another school where most of Maureen’s friends are now. It is quite a distance away – 8km (5 miles) on rough roads.<\/p>\n
But as there is no public transport in this remote area of Kitui county, which is more than 200km east of the capital, Nairobi, the children opt for a short cut, trekking over fairly rugged terrain.<\/p>\n
It will still take Maureen just over an hour to walk to the new school, instead of the 10 minutes to Kaliluni Primary.<\/p>\n
“I was hoping the government would restore operations here – bring more teachers and facilities to accommodate the new curriculum – but there is no hope,” her mother says.<\/p>\n
Muasya is referring to a major shake-up of Kenya’s education system that was introduced in 2017 – a less exam-orientated and more creative and practical approach to teaching, known as Competency-Based Education (CBE).<\/p>\n
But it is having a devastating effect on rural junior schools – and Kaliluni Primary is one of more than 2,000 across the East African nation now facing possible closure as enrolment numbers plummet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n