Achieving sustainable universal primary education through debt relief : the case of Kenya

Factors Affecting Teachers' Implementation of Curriculum Reforms and Educational Policies in Schools: The Kenyan Experience

Abstract: Since Kenya attained independence in 1963, various curriculum reforms and educational policies have been recommended. Examples are the 8:4:4 system of education (1985), the cost sharing strategy in education (1988), the Free Primary Education (FPE) policy (2003) and the Subsidized Secondary Education policy (2008) among others. The aim of the curriculum/educational reforms in Kenya has been to achieve national development. However, we find that the process of policy implementation is always problematic. Teachers encounter various problems in trying to implement educational reforms in schools in Kenya. This paper is a discussion of the factors affecting teachers in the implementation of curriculum reforms and educational policies in Kenya. This paper highlights the issues of poor economic growth, politics, lack of facilities, institutional leadership, ability and inability to evaluate, lack of proper social amenities and infrastructure, ignorance and illiteracy. For each of the limitations, probable solutions have been advanced. Key w ords : curriculum, reforms, education, policies

La Banque mondiale et l'éducation en Afrique subsaharienne

Abstract: HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. La Banque mondiale et l’éducation en Afrique subsaharienne Nadir Altinok

Dropout among Male Pupils in Primary Schools of Igembe District, Kenya

Abstract: Education plays a key role in human development through the process of empowering people to improve their well being and participation in national building. Dropout however poses a serious threat to gains in education despite the Government emphasis on Education for All by the year 2015. In Igembe District the problem is more pronoused among the male children. The study used the ex-post facto research design. The target and accessible population constituted of educational officers, head teachers, guidance and counseling teachers and pupils. A sample size of 364 was used for the study.This study sought information on causes of dropout among boys and strategies that could be adopted to address this problem. The study established that dropout of male pupils was a common problem that required urgent attention. The major factors leading to dropout included; child labour, family instability, initiation, drug abuse and lack of role models. The study recommends affirmative action for the boy child, abolishing of child labour and initiation of boys after completion of primary school as strategies that could address dropout among male pupils.

Drop out among Pupils in Rural Primary Schools in Kenya: The Case of Nandi North District, Kenya

Abstract: The role of education in socializing the individual to fit in the society cannot be gainsaid. This is because education empowers people to improve their well being and participation in nation building. But recent research has shown that the spate of school drop-out among primary school pupils is worrying. This is happening in Kenya despite the inception of Free Primary Education programme in 2003. Practically pupils’ drop out poses a serious threat to gains in education despite the Government’s emphasis on Education for All by the year 2015. In Nandi North District, the problem is more pronounced among the primary pupils. The study therefore was conceived as a result of the increased pupil dropout rate in public primary schools causing wastage and affecting curriculum implementation. The study sought to establish the causes of drop out among pupils and strategies that institutions of learning can adopt to address this problem. The study adopted descriptive survey design. It targeted 6322 standard eight pupils, 2569 class teachers and 286 head teachers. Out of this target population, a sample size of 1970 standard eight pupils, 769 class teachers and 86 head teachers was selected. Data were collected using class teachers' and pupils' questionnaires and head teachers' interview guide to gather information on the causes of school dropout. Data were analyzed by use of descriptive statistics and the findings presented in form of figures and tables. The study findings indicated that teenage pregnancy, chronic repetition, family size, lack of motivation for schooling, parental negligence, influence from peers, lack of trained teacher counsellors and early marriages were the main causes of school dropout. It further pointed out that the factors leading to the dropout of girls are different from those for boys. The study therefore recommends that the government and other stakeholders should address the issue of school dropout rate and come up with measures to curb it to avoid wastage of school curriculum resources and facilities and above all, wastage of them would be future leaders full of discovery knowledge for this current era of information and technology. In addition, the government should strengthen policies on the expenditure of the FPE set aside to benefit all children for quality education. Keywords: Drop Out, Pupils, Rural Primary Schools, Kenya, Nandi North District, Kenya

Educational Performance of the Poor: Lessons from Rural Northeast Brazil

Abstract: Education policy in developing countries is often expressed as a tradeoff between quality of schools and equity of access by students. The analysis behind this book demonstrates that such a distinction may be artificial. The research, which emerged from an effort to improve educational performance in rural northeast Brazil, shows that improving the quality of schools could lead to gains in efficiency that more than offset the direct costs of the improvements. Through the cost savings they generate, quality improvements can also increase equity of access. This quantitative assessment of eduational performance and school promotion in primary schools is unique in its ability to address directly a range of important policy concerns facing developing countries. The study relies on longitudinal data collected over seven years to evaluate the EDURURAL project, an educational intervention by the Brazilian government supported by the World Bank. The extensive data base permits more precise analysis of the underlying determinants of student achievement and promotion than was previously possible. The study includes a standard investigation of teachers and resources. In addition it examines the relationships between both achievement and promotion and student health and promotion and considers the likely effects of differences in teachers' skills and knowledge of subject matter.

Student achievement and schooling choice in low-income countries: evidence from Ghana

Abstract: In this paper we present new evidence on the impact of school characteristics on student achievement using an unusually rich data set from Ghana. We deal with two potentially important selectivity issues in the developing country context: the sorting of higher ability children into better schools, and the high incidence of both delayed school enrollment and early leaving. Our empirical results do not reveal any strong selectivity bias. We also highlight the indirect effects of improving school quality on student achievement through increased grade attainment. A cost-benefit analysis, taking into account these indirect effects, shows that repairing classrooms (a policy option ignored in most education production function studies) is a cost-effective investment in Ghana, relative to providing more instructional materials and improving teacher quality.

Determinants of Poverty in Kenya: A Household Level Analysis

Abstract: Strategies aimed at poverty reduction need to identify factors that are strongly associated with poverty and that are amenable to modification by policy. This article uses household level data collected in 1994 to examine probable determinants of poverty status, employing both binomial and polychotomous logit models. The study shows that poverty status is strongly associated with the level of education, household size and engagement in agricultural activity, both in rural and urban areas. In general, those factors that are closely associated with overall poverty according to the binomial model are also important in the ordered-logit model, but they appear to be even more important in tackling extreme poverty.

The willingness to pay for education in developing countries

Abstract: In recent years, citing the low price elasticity of demand for schooling, some economists have advocated increasing school fees to raise revenue for educational improvements in developing countries. But elasticities alone are not enough - one must estimate the willingness to pay for schooling improvements to see whether higher fees are in fact desirable. Using a rigorous theoretical model of the demand for schooling and the principle of compensating variations, the authors calculate the willingness to pay for new secondary schools in rural Peru. They find that rural Peruvian households are indeed willing to pay fees high enough to more than cover the operating costs of opening new secondary schools in their villages. This is even true of the poorest quarter of the income distribution.

Efficiency of primary education in Kenya: Situational analysis and implications for educational reform

Abstract: This paper examines issues of efficiency in the primary level of education in Kenya. Primary data were collected from 120 purposively selected primary schools based in 12 Districts. Secondary data were collected from official documents within the Ministry of Education, Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) and the Women’s Bureau. The position taken in this paper is that the conceptualisation of the term school or education efficiency in a developing country like Kenya should take a ‘process perspective’ as opposed to ‘outcome perspective’. That is, there is need to go beyond the issue of “at what cost” is a school meeting its objectives e.g. at what cost was the low or high score produced. In education, as opposed to a factory of physical goods, efficiency has to be pegged with how a system of education as a whole operates to meet its objectives what we call ‘holistic operation’. This paper indicates that the operation of primary education system in Kenya faces the problem of inefficiency. Completion rates have remained very low (less than 50 per cent) for the last five years. Besides, national pupil-teacher ratio is also low, about 31:1. This study also indicates that teaching-learning time is not utilised efficiently in primary schools. Several factors are behind such inefficiencies. These include: Education policies and management processes mis-allocation of resources to educational levels; school based factors teachers attitudes, time utilisation, school environment; and household based factors poverty, socio-cultural factors, and gender issues. The most notable policy implication of the findings is that education in Kenya needs a complete overhaul, and not piece-meal reforms. There is need to review 8-4-4 curriculum in a comprehensive and holistic manner. The curriculum has to be reduced and made relevant. This would allow for other reforms to take place. Besides, viable and sustainable cost and financing mechanisms in education have to be instituted to stop drop-outs form the system, thus enhance completion rates. As a follow up to curriculum review, it is recommended that, the Ministry of Education consider increasing the pupil-teacher ratio to 40:1. There is also need for the introduction of shift or double system in primary education. This would create more learning opportunities for pupils, and hence increase the efficient utilisation of teaching-learning time. More training services for school mangers to enhance the utilisation of school resources is also needed. Okwach Abagi and George Odipo