Parents scramble for pre-school slots

• Msingi Bora, a popular kindergarten, boasts of a three-year waiting list for the few toddlers who make it to the institution.
• Admissions are booked far in advance, sometimes before the child is born.
• Competition for space in kindergartens has intensified especially in Nairobi where parents are ready to pay whatever the price it takes to give their children the best education they can get.
• Early childhood education, or preschool, has become a critical part of planning for a child’s future — turning schools such as Madari, Cavina, Key Montessori International, Waldorf Kindergartens, Msingi Bora, and Kabete International into admission battle grounds.

It’s a cloudy early Saturday morning but Ann Wainaina is out of bed to continue the search for a nursery school for her daughter.

She arrives at her first stop and frowns. There are five cars already in the parking lot at Msingi Bora, a popular kindergarten that boasts of a three-year waiting list for the few toddlers who make it to the institution. Her hopes sink.

Chances that her child — a precocious five-year-old who is unhappy at her current school — will make it onto this school’s roster are slim.

Admissions are booked far in advance, sometimes before the child is born. The headmistress had warned Ann when she called to ask for admission that her mission might be futile.

More recently, competition for space in kindergartens has intensified especially in Nairobi where parents are ready to pay whatever the price it takes to give their children the best education they can get.

Early childhood education, or preschool, has become a critical part of planning for a child’s future — turning schools such as Madari, Cavina, Key Montessori International, Waldorf Kindergartens, Msingi Bora, and Kabete International into admission battle grounds.

“We did not get in,” Ann said. She visited five schools, each with a rigorous interview process, but there was still no guarantee of admission.

This is a typical scene for many of Kenya’s middle-class parents. They hope to secure a spot in some of the country’s most prestigious schools for their children under five years of age.

A slew of interviews, a rigorous admission process, and almost cut-throat tactics to secure a spot are routine.

Early childhood foundation

Early childhood education is the foundation for later learning and development. Kenya’s parents are increasingly investing more in their children to give them a head start.

Msingi Bora, one of the most popular kindergartens in Nairobi, has unborn babies on its waiting list. By the first quarter of this year, vacancies at the school were filled until 2015.

School director Maureen Swai has opened a new file for 2016 bookings. Parents pay Sh3,500 to register. The money is refunded if they don’t secure a vacancy.

Cavina, a British system school, has also seen increased demand. The school has a waiting list of about 10 children for each class.

Mr David Achola, the school’s administrator and teacher, said demand for space was on the increase. Registration costs Sh2,000.