Education Sector in Kenya

The education reforms in Kenya will provide opportunities for digital content, technical training, research, heavy investment in construction and upgrade of educational infrastructure.

The education sector comprises of; Ministry of Education (MoE) which hosts the Department of Education and Department of Science and Technology.Its role of MoE is to the provide quality education and training for all Kenyans, while the role of Department of Science and Technology is to formulate, promote and implement higher education policies and strategies. In addition, Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has been mainstreamed into the department of Science and Technology and TVET Authority formed to ensure quality in middle level education and training is at advanced stage.

Other stakeholders in MoE include: Kenyan National Union of Teachers (KNUT), Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), and Commission for University Education (CUE).The CUE ensures that high standards and good quality in all public and private universities are maintained.The government is in the process of building the necessary capacities for CUE and TVET Authority, and establishing a National Education Board which will advise the cabinet secretary, the department of education and related departments on policy matters.

National Education System: The national education system has an 8-4-4 structure. Eight years in primary school (6-13 year olds), four years in secondary school (14-17 year olds) and four years in university. This structure has expanded to incorporate technical skills and pre-primary education (4-5 year olds). However, the government aims to increase the school leaving age so that all children remain in either education or training until they are 18 years old. TVET catchment population includes youth who do not enrol in the regular education system either at primary, secondary school or university levels.

Secondary enrolment and capacity: The secondary sector has expanded rapidly in the past eight years, both in number of schools and enrolment. Government’s strategy envisages: increase in the number of local secondary school places by encouraging private investment, increase the number of boarding secondary schools in pastoralist areas, and raise the transition rate from primary to secondary to 90%.

Universities: Both public and private universities have increased in number allowing more students to enrol. 2011/2012 saw an increase in enrolment of students to the universities increase by over 80% in public (both parallel and regular programmes), and over 100% in private. Currently, there are over 15 private universities and over 13 public universities, with the recent increase in public universities resulting from polytechnic colleges being awarded charters.

However, the government wants to reverse the current trend of turning middle-level colleges into universities and reinstating them. Government’s strategy is to expand the number of post-secondary places, for instance by opening vocational technical institutes in each constituency, so as to give fresh secondary school graduates tertiary qualifications. In addition, the government is encouraging universities to invest in research, technology & innovation.

Although the 8-4-4 structure and system was supposed to provide for a student to progress from the first year of primary through TIVET or tertiary, many primary level graduates have in fact been ill-prepared to enter post-primary sub-sectors. In addition, it has not catered adequately for the disadvantaged, those with special needs and those outside the formal education system. Consequently, many school age children have remained un-catered for. Amidst the challenges, the current government is keen to improve the education sector and is investing heavily in reforming the sector.

Reference : opentoexport.com