Primary education
A preliminary note on Kenya primary school enrolment trends over four decades
Primary school enrolment patterns in Kenya
Authors:
A. Somerset
Publisher:
Consortium for Research on Educational Access, Transitions and Equity , 2007
At the time of Kenya’s Independence in late 1963, the development of the education system stood high on the agenda of the incoming Government. This review analyses historic data from Kenya to explore fluctuating primary school enrolment patterns over four decades. It uncovers some of the dynamics of systems in transition and illustrates how policy interventions can have an uneven impact over time on improved participation.
Critically, periods of high growth are often followed by reversion to underlying long term trends, gains in initial enrolment are not always accompanied by gains throughout all the grades in the primary cycle, and patterns of gains in participation can vary for different groups. This study provides insight into how policy has an impact on access, and acts as a reminder that historic trends may repeat themselves as the Education for All agenda is implemented.
The author concludes that Grade 1 enrolments responded sharply to the Government’s first attempt to bring about universal primary education through the abolition of school fees in 1974, and the later abolition of building levies in 1979. However these gains were largely dissipated as the cohorts moved through subsequent grades by greatly-increased dropout.
