Literature Review

Education in Kenya: Increasing the Quality of Primary Education while Increasing the

Access to Secondary Education

Secondary Education and the Developing World

Access to higher education after primary schooling is essential for the social and

economic development of a nation. Education provides human capital 1 for a workforce that will

drive the growth of an economy and raise the standard of living of its citizenry. Many countries

in the developing world have a population who cannot afford to receive higher education, due to

the costs of the education. To many in the developing world, higher education has been seen as a

luxury that only a few can afford, resulting in a dichotomy of the haves and the have-nots. The

World Bank2 cites a quality education as "critical to end poverty." Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is

noted as having one of the lowest levels of secondary school participation in the world. 3 This

1
Human Capital- the skills, knowledge, and experience possessed by an individual or population, viewed
in terms of their value or cost to an organization or country.
Dictionary.com, "Human Capital," Dictionary.com, section goes here, accessed March 12, 2017,
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/human-capital?s=t.

2
World Bank, "World Bank Support to Education: : A Systems Approach to Achieve Learning for All," World
Bank, April 28, 2014, section goes here, accessed March 12, 2017,
http://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2014/04/28/world-bank-support-to-education-a-systems-approach-to-achieve-
learning-for-all.

3World Bank, "World Bank's Discovery," Economic and Political Weekly 22, no. 10 (March 07, 1987): pg. #1,
accessed March 12, 2017,
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/974151468201603022/pdf/343110ENGLISH02ndary0education.pdf.
has served as a detriment to Sub-Saharan Africa's progress. Government's investment in

education is necessary to raise its country's standard of living which can further benefit the gross

national income (GNI).

This literature review will focus on the Sub-Saharan African country of Kenya, and its

access to secondary education from primary education. Through this review, it will provide

insight on the Kenyan educational system and the troubles ailing it.

Primary Education

Kenya's education system is set-up as an 8-4 system: 8 years primary education and 4

years secondary education. In 2003, the Kenyan school system achieved Universal Primary

Education, where school fees are eliminated for the primary education. This has expanded

classrooms and has allowed students who would have not gone to school an opportunity for an

education4. Unfortunately, as schooling became more readily available the quality of the

education began to decline. Teachers were faced with classroom sizes that were 80-150 pupils.

Homework and assignments were less given due to the extreme workload in grading. Also,

schools lacked funding from the government, resulting in a 1:3 or sometimes a 1:5 student to

textbook ratio. Many student would turn assignments as late because they would have needed to

share the textbook with a classmate. 5

4Tamara Yakaboski, "The Kenyan School Systems' Impact on Public Higher Education Access: Examination of
Growth, Access, and Challenges.," 2011, section goes here, accessed March 13, 2017.

5Daniel N. Sifuna, "The Challenge of Increasing Access and Improving Quality: An Analysis of Universal Primary
Education Interventions in Kenya and Tanzania since the 1970s.," International Review of Education, October 31,
2007, section goes here, accessed March 13, 2017, https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ785130.
 In the 1980s, the Kenyan government implemented cost-sharing, in which the parents and

the communities would pay for school expenditures and the government would pay the teacher's

salaries. 6 However, many Kenyan families could not afford the expense of school expenditures,

as the average Kenyan's annual income is less than $2,000 USD.7 School uniforms are less than

$6 USD, yet some families find even that cost too much on their familial income. The cost of

attending school has resulted in many students staying home from the classroom. In a survey

taken by an independent review board asked students of 6-15 years of age why they had missed

school for the past 7 days, 39.8% said school was too expensive to attend. 23.9% of students who

also took that survey reported they were out of school because they found school useless or
8
interesting, most likely due to the low quality of the education and lack of funding.

Secondary Education

6Daniel N. Sifuna, "The Challenge of Increasing Access and Improving Quality: An Analysis of Universal Primary
Education Interventions in Kenya and Tanzania since the 1970s.," International Review of Education, October 31,
2007, section goes here, accessed March 13, 2017, https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ785130.

7World Bank, "GDP per Capita (current US$)," GDP per Capita | Data, 2015, section goes here, accessed March 13,
2017, http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD.

8Adrienne M. Lucas Isaac M. Mbiti, "Does Free Primary Education Narrow Gender Differences in Schooling?
Evidence from Kenya," section goes here, accessed March 13, 2017, doi:10.1093/jae/ejs021.
 Of the students who remain in primary education, the determinant of whether a student

enters secondary education is based on the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE)

exam. This exam is out of 500 points, and students must score at least a 50% to be considered for

secondary school education. At this point only 47% of students who enrolled in primary

education since grade 1 have completed grade 8 and are taking this exam. 9 According to the

World Bank, Out of the over 695,000 candidates who sat the KCPE examination, 350,000

candidates attained over 250 marks, making them eligible to join secondary school. 10 Students

who pass with high marks will either be selected to one of the four secondary schools provided:

national, public, private, or harambee.1112 26% of the students who gained admission to a

secondary school will decline, also due to high cost. On average, secondary schooling in Kenya

is 4.1 times more expensive than primary education. Students who fail the exam will be forced to

try again the next year, attend a technical school, or quit schooling. 13

9
Adrienne M. Lucas and Isaac M. Mbiti, "Does Free Primary Education Narrow Gender Differences in Schooling?
Evidence from Kenya," section goes here, accessed March 13, 2017, doi:10.1093/jae/ejs021.

10World Bank, "World Bank's Discovery," Economic and Political Weekly 22, no. 10 (March 07, 1987): pg. #13,
accessed March 13, 2017, http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/700151467997577920/pdf/WPS7384.pdf.

11Harambee- schools which receive less funding from the government and are locally run
12Nick Clark, "Education in Kenya," WENR, June 2, 2015, section goes here, accessed March 13, 2017,
http://wenr.wes.org/2015/06/education-kenya.

13Nobuhide Sawamura, "Universalizing Primary Education in Kenya: Is It Beneficial and Sustainable?" Journal of
International Cooperation in Education, December 2008, section goes here, accessed March 13, 2017,
http://www.cees.mak.ac.ug/sites/default/files/publications/goretmary.pdf#page=104.
 Currently, the transition rate of students entering secondary school from primary school

is 47%, meaning only 1 out of 2 children will gain a higher education from primary school. The

Kenyan government would like to boost this rate to 70%; however, financial hardships barred

from entering. There must be increased funding in Kenya's educational sector so schooling can

become more feasible. The issue is not Kenyan students do not want to attend school- it is the

cost.

Conclusion

The Kenyan educational system is in desperate need for reform. Greater emphasis must

be placed on the quality of education students are receiving from primary education to prepare

for secondary education, as well as an emphasis on the accessibility to education beyond primary

school. Education provides many benefits and opportunities for a country to develop and

increase its citizenry standard of living. There must be action taken to evoke these necessary

developmental changes.

For my thesis, I will be focusing on the policies that could be implemented make

education more feasible. In this, I will be looking at other developing countries, and how have

they overcome their challenges in providing higher education for their youth.
 Bibliography
Central Intelligence Agency. "The World Factbook: KENYA." Central Intelligence Agency.
January 12, 2017. Accessed March 13, 2017. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/geos/ke.html.
Clark, Nick. "Education in Kenya." WENR. June 2, 2015. Accessed March 13, 2017.
http://wenr.wes.org/2015/06/education-kenya.
Consortium for Research on Education, Access, Transitions, & Equity. "On the Politics of
Policy." Managing Curriculum in South African Schools Managing Schools in South Africa,
August 2009, 35-46. Accessed March 13, 2017. doi:10.14217/9781848597914-5-en.
Dictionary.com. "Human Capital." Dictionary.com. Accessed March 12, 2017.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/human-capital?s=t.
Lucas, Adrienne M., and Isaac M. Mbiti. "Does Free Primary Education Narrow Gender
Differences in Schooling? Evidence from Kenya." Accessed March 13, 2017.
doi:10.1093/jae/ejs021.
Ochieng, Pamela A. "REFORM AGENDA AND EDUCATIONAL POLICY IN KENYA:
CIRCA 21st CENTURY." Accessed March 13, 2017.
Sawamura, Nobuhide. "Universalizing Primary Education in Kenya: Is It Beneficial and
Sustainable?" Journal of International Cooperation in Education. December 2008. Accessed
March 13, 2017.
http://www.cees.mak.ac.ug/sites/default/files/publications/goretmary.pdf#page=104.
Sifuna, Daniel N. "The Challenge of Increasing Access and Improving Quality: An Analysis of
Universal Primary Education Interventions in Kenya and Tanzania since the 1970s."
International Review of Education. October 31, 2007. Accessed March 13, 2017.
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ785130.
World Bank. "GDP per Capita (current US$)." GDP per Capita | Data. 2015. Accessed March
13, 2017. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD.
World Bank. "World Bank Support to Education: : A Systems Approach to Achieve Learning for
All." World Bank. April 28, 2014. Accessed March 12, 2017.
http://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2014/04/28/world-bank-support-to-education-a-systems-
approach-to-achieve-learning-for-all.
World Bank. "World Bank's Discovery." Economic and Political Weekly 22, no. 10 (March 07,
1987): 388. Accessed March 12, 2017.
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/974151468201603022/pdf/343110ENGLISH02ndary
0education.pdf.
World Bank. "World Bank's Discovery." Economic and Political Weekly 22, no. 10 (March 07,
1987): 388. Accessed March 13, 2017.
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/700151467997577920/pdf/WPS7384.pdf.
Yakaboski, Tamara. "The Kenyan School Systems' Impact on Public Higher Education Access:
Examination of Growth, Access, and Challenges." 2011. Accessed March 13, 2017.