EDUCATION IN KENYA: CHALLENGES AND POLICY RESPONSES

Paper Prepared for Presentation at the Council on Foreign Relations Washington DC By Prof George Saitoti Minister for Education, Science and Technology, Government of Kenya April 2004 1

1. Introduction

 This presentation is organized as follows: (a) A brief overview of Kenya and challenges that the country is faced with; (b) A broad overview of Kenya’s education system and the challenges facing the sector; (c) Policy responses with an emphasis on the implementation of free primary education; and (d) Concluding remarks 2

1.1 Kenya Basic Facts and Indicators

     Population 32 million with 57% between ages 0-19 years—meaning high dependency rates; Economic performance-strong during 1960s and early 1970s; slowed in 1980s and 1990s; The poor performance of the economy attributed to a combination of factors including drought, poor donor relations, ethnic conflict associated with transition to multiparty democracy, advent of HIV/AIDS, weak institutions and governance; Economy largely dependent on rain-fed agriculture, but increasingly diversifying into services and horticulture Government spending is about 22% of GDP, education takes largest share of government spending.

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Key economic indicators’ annual growth rate (1997-2002) (Table 1

)

Indicator 1997 1998 19 99 2000 2001 2002

Real Gross Domestic Product (%) Real GDP per capita (%) Real agricultural output 2.4

-0.6

1.0

1.8

-1.1

1.5

1.4

-1.5

1.2

-0.3

-2.6

-2.4

1.2

-0.6

2.0

1.1

-1.1

0.7

Real manufacturing 1.9

1.4

1.0

-1.5

0.8

1.2

output

Source

: Economic Commission for Africa, 2003; World Bank, 2000;

Economic Survey 2003

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Government revenue and expenditure (% of GDP), 1997/1998- 2002/2003 (Table 2)

1997/ 98 1998 /99 1999/ 00 2000 /01 2001 /02 2002/ 03 Domestic revenue Grants Expenditure & net lending 28.7

0.8

31.1

26.5

22.9

22.7

21.1

22.2

0.7

0.5

2.8

0.7

1.6

26.6

22.5

27.5

24.5

27.0

Source: Public Expenditure Review (PER) 2003

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1.2 Sectors’ Share in public expenditure

 Education takes one of the largest share of resources allocated to a single function.

 The figure below provides details of the share of public expenditure by sector for 2002/2003 financial year.

 At about 20%, education sector is one of the priority sectors in government expenditure.

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Share of the Public expenditure by sector, 2002/03 financial year Debt service 17% Other services 14% Economic Health services 1% 6% 13% Defense and public administration 29% Education 20%

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1.3 Kenya: Key Challenges

 Poverty – 57% of the population live in poverty (Table 6 )  HIV/AIDS – prevalence- 9.4% (Table 5)  Malaria – costly and reduces productivity  income distribution – inequality very high  Limited access to development goods-health, education, clean water, etc.

 Poor infrastructure (hence cost of doing business), crime  Entrenching democracy, constitutional reform.

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Headcount poverty indices in Kenya: 1994-2000

(Table 6)

1994 1997 2000

Rural Urban National 46.75

28.95

43.84

52.93

49.20

52.32

52.56

51.48

56.78

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1.4 HIV/AIDS

 HIV/AIDS impacts on social economic development.  HIV/AIDS causes:  a reduction in size and quality of the labour force,  increases healthcare expenditure,  raises the cost of labour and  reduces savings and investment.  Figure 2 shows HIV prevalence from 1990 to 1998.  In 2000 the HIV prevalence was 13.4%  Declining to 9.4% in 2003.

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HIV Prevalence in Kenya, 1990-2003 (Figure 2) 20.0

18.0

16.0

14.0

12.0

10.0

8.0

6.0

4.0

2.0

0.0

Nation al Urban Rural Years 11

2.0 Structure of Kenya’s Education System

        The education and training sector contains : Early Childhood Development and Pre-school Education Primary Education Secondary Education University Education Technical and Vocational Education and Training Teacher Education and Training Non-formal Education and Adult Education Special Education 12

THE STRUCTURE OF KENYA’S EDUCATION SYSTEM UNIVERSITY EDUCATION (4 to 6 years ) SECONDARY EDUCATION (4 years) MIDDLE LEVEL COLLEGES (Maximum of 3 years)

These include: •NATIONAL POLYTECHNICS • TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGES •VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING (These include; Technical Training Institutes, Institutes of Technology, and National Polytechnics).

PRIMARY EDUCATION (8 years) YOUTH

/

VILLAGE POLYTECHNIC KEY

Indicates a strong link (formalized).

Indicates weak link (if there is any link). Some links are in the process of being strengthened *This structure was implemented in 1985, to replace 7-4-2-3 i.e 7 years primary, 13 4 years at ordinary level, 2 years at advance level and 3 years at the university

2.1 Primary Education

 Is first phase of formal education system.  The start age is 6 years and runs for 8 years.

 Promotes growth, imparts literacy and numeracy skills.

 Lays a firm foundation for further formal education and training and life-long learning.

 14

Challenges in primary education

 Declining enrollments in primary school (before 2003) - Cost - Low access, retention and completion rates - Poverty -HIV/AIDS - Distance and poor facilities - Books - Low private returns to primary education 15

Challenges(cont.)

 Primary school completion rates was 43.2% in 1990 with a slight increase over the years to 56.4% in 2003.

 The proportion of girls not completing their primary education is higher than that of boys- in 2003 Boys 60.3% as compared to 53.2% girls.

 Wide regional and gender disparities in participation in education especially at the primary school level.  The figure below illustrates the evolution of regional disparities in primary school enrolment over the period 1995-2003 16

Primary school enrollment by province, 1994-2003

120 100 80 60 40 20 0 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Year

Central Coast Eastern NAIROBI North Eastern Nyanza Rift Valley Western 17

2.2 Secondary Education

 Secondary education caters for primary school leavers in the 14-17 years age group.

 There are about 3,500 public and 500 private secondary schools  The net enrolment is about 22% of the eligible age group.

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Enrolment and Completion rates

 The enrollment rates for both males (24.0%) and females are very low(21.4%).  There are wide disparities across administrative regions of the country .

 About 79% of students joining secondary school complete their secondary education. 19

Transition from primary to secondary education

 Transition rate from primary to secondary schools is low, with only less than 50% of primary school graduates entering secondary school.

 The low transition rates are due to several factors:  Low quality of some of the existing secondary schools,  High cost of secondary education,  Lack of perceived incentives to continue education.

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Challenges in secondary education

High drop out rates(21% do not complete) poor performance limited spaces in secondary schools cost of secondary education rigidity of academic programs poverty and impact of HIV/AIDS 21

Challenges cont...

 student/teacher ratio high  textbooks and other complements inadequate equipment-especially science laboratories inadequate  Inequalities - regional and gender disparities gender limited opportunities for handicapped population 22

2.3 University Education

 Kenya has  6 public universities  17 private universities.

 Undergraduate education takes a minimum of 4 academic years.

 Enrollment is about 63,000 students.

 Annual intake into public universities is about 10,000 and Private universities , 6,000.

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University Education(cont)

 University education in public universities in Kenya is mainly financed by the government.

 The government (through the Higher Education Loans Board) provides loans to needy students.

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Challenges in university education

 Limited physical facilities leading to low access and participation rates(10%)  Poorly equipped (Lecture theatres, laboratories, workshops etc.)  Cost – unaffordable to majority of Kenyans  Mismatch of training programmes with the labour market.

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2.4 Tertiary Education

 Tertiary education covers, Technical training Institutes, Institutes of Technology and National Polytechnics.

 Other middle level colleges including Youth polytechnics.

 They form Technical Vocational and Education Training(TVET) 26

Challenges in Tertiary Education

 Under utilization of the capacity of TVET institutions and the non-relevance of some of their training programmes  Poor management and governance of TVET institutions.

 Lack of enough trained teachers/instructors  Lack of facilities/equipment.

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3.0 POLICY RESPONSES

 Universal Free Primary Education  Targeted subsidies to those in secondary and post-secondary institutions  Loan schemes for higher education  Involvement of stakeholders in formulation of education policy 28

Policy responses(cont)

 Private-public partnerships in education financing  Strengthening inspectorate and school audits; accountability and transparency in school management  Periodic review of curriculum to ensure relevance.

 School feeding programme in ASAL and urban slums.

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4.0 Free Primary Education

 The National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) government introduced Free Primary Education (FPE) in January 2003.

 Primary school completion rates was 43.2% in 1990 with a slight increase over the years to 56.4% in 2003.

 The proportion of girls not completing their primary education is higher than that of boys- in 2003 boys 60.3% as compared to 53.2% girls.

 Wide regional and gender disparities in participation in education especially at the primary school level. 30

Free Primary Education (cont.)

  Under the policy of FPE, all fees and levies for primary education have been abolished.

Besides meeting teachers’ salaries, the government committed to provide teaching and learning materials.  Kshs. 650 is being disbursed for each pupil annually towards teaching and learning materials  Another Kshs. 370 per pupil is to cover operational and other maintenance functions.

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Free Primary Education(cont.)

 The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) as articulated in the Jomtien 1990 and Dakar 2000 declarations to be achieved.

 Goals underline the importance of children’s right to education as stipulated in the Children’s Act of 2001.  FPE is central to the implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS).

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Impact of Free primary education

 Increased access of 21% more children in school and a Gross Enrolment Ratio of 104%.

 Increase in Teacher/Pupil ratio from 1:32 to 1:40.

 Provision of learning/teaching materials.

 Improved pupil-book ratio where in grade 2 and 5 with a near ratio of 1:1 in English and Mathematics.

 Enhancement of quality assurance mechanisms and in-servicing of school inspectors.

 Enhanced capacity of school management committees leading to improved governance 33

108 106 104 102 100 98 96 94 92 90 88 86 84 82 80

Primary Schools Gross Enrolment Ratio, 1990-2003

Boys Girls Total

19901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003 Year

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Does Education Have Age Limit?

35

Education for all

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5.0. CONCLUSION

 Kenya is faced with many challenges in the education sector- but government committed to tackling them with the assistance from development partners.

 In 2003 the new Government implemented its campaign pledges by making primary school education free (FPE) to all children. 37

Conclusion cont..

 The Government is determined to build strong partnership to address major challenges facing the education sector.

 A National Conference on Education Training was convened between 27 and 29 November 2003.  The conference yielded a wide range of policy recommendations across all levels of the education sector.

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

National Conference on Education and Training- charting the way forward

The key policy issues from the conference include:  The need for review of teachers’ norms  Cost-effective expansion of secondary education  Diversification of financing  Review of early childhood development  Possible legislative changes, and  Strengthening of information communication technology  The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is collating the recommendations and resolutions.

 A Sessional Paper will be prepared for presentation to Parliament.

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

Way Forward(cont.)

The Government has formulated an

Economic Recovery Plan

to reverse the general economic decline.  The

plan

is to encourage private sector investments.

 To create wealth and employment opportunities.

 The Government is targeting improvement in governance.

 Improving access to basic services is a priority.

 Goal is to empower all Kenyans to acquire skills for productive employment in the long run . 40

END

Thank you

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