Journal Article•
Achieving sustainable universal primary education through debt relief : the case of Kenya
01 Jan 2002-Research Papers in Economics (World Institute for Development Economics Research, United Nations University)-
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the introduction of cost sharing system in Kenya has resulted in high dropout and repetition in primary education, and the challenges facing the sector in achieving universal primary schooling.
Abstract: This study critically reviews the education sector in Kenya and the challenges facing the sector in achieving universal primary schooling. The study argues that the introduction of cost-sharing system in Kenya has resulted in high dropout and repetition r
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Dissertation•
24 Jul 2014
8 citations
Cites background from "Achieving sustainable universal pri..."
...Education is therefore an investment in human resource that enables individuals to participate effectively in the national development process, (Nafula, 2002)....
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider issues of funding of support for students facing difficulties in learning, and the role of assessment and labelling within this process using a Foucauldian framework, and from the key perspectives of social justice and rights.
Abstract: This paper considers issues of funding of support for students facing difficulties in learning, and the role of assessment and labelling within this process. It explores the tensions within this process using a Foucauldian framework, and from the key perspectives of social justice and rights. Drawing on a range of literature it identifies the focus upon the individual within assessment processes around the world, and then considers in detail the strengths and weaknesses of the current form of Statutory Assessment of Special Educational Needs within England. The paper proposes an alternative funding system that resolves shortcomings within the individual approach and the English system. It suggests that a Class Funding Approach could build on a notion of justice for all, reduce the opportunities for wide variations in provision, and minimise the negative impact of current dividing practices.
8 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: Many models in educational have tried to clarify the causal relationships of motivation variables on student performance, by presenting hypothesized models, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and co....
Abstract: Many models in educational have tried to clarify the causal relationships of motivation variables on student performance, by presenting hypothesized models, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and co ...
5 citations
Cites background from "Achieving sustainable universal pri..."
...Investment in education plays a significant role in human development through empowerment of people to improve their well-being and participate actively in nation building (Nafula, 2002)....
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Dissertation•
01 Jan 2012
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify the channels that can influence economic growth through FOI in Malaysia by using human capital development, financial development and environmental condition whilst FDI was used as an interaction as well as an Independent variable.
Abstract: Foreign direct investment is an important indicator to boost the economic growth of Malaysia. Foreign direct investment was identified as a medium in order to acquire skills, knowledge, technologies and to internationalize business and at the same time to reduce debts of a nation. However, in the year 2009, inflow of FDI into Malaysia had decline as much as 81.13 percent. McKern (1996), Kathuria (1998, 2000 and 2001) and Noorbakhsh et al. (2001) believed that FOI does not take place automatically in a nation. Whereby, inflow of FOI should be encouraged. Hence, this study aims to identify the channels that can influence economic growth through FOI in Malaysia. Location advantage channels were group using human capital development, financial development and environmental condition whilst FDI was used as an interaction as well as an Independent variable. The findings of the analysis clearly indicated that when FDI was used as an interaction with each location advantage channels, the interaction become insignificant in explaining the changes in economic growth. Thus, the study support that a certain value of location advantage channels were important to stimulate economic growth through inflow of FOI in Malaysia.
4 citations
01 Jan 2007
TL;DR: This paper explored the perceptions of four overseas Kenyan students about their educational experiences at La Trobe University and found that the difficulties these international students have experienced in the context of transition or border crossing were exacerbated by inadequate pre-departure preparation and orientation on arrival.
Abstract: This study involves an exploration of the perceptions of four overseas Kenyan students about their educational experiences at La Trobe University. A related aim of this research is to find out how these four students previous learning in Kenya affects their learning and living experiences in Australia, for instance, in terms of demands associated with differences in learning and teaching styles, cultural expectations and proficiencies in English. A non-positivist, qualitative methodology is adopted for this research which employs an interview-based case study approach. Qualitative research demands that the world be approached with the assumption that nothing is trivial and that everything has the potential of being a clue which might unlock more comprehensive understanding of what is being researched. While the findings of this study confirm current understandings of the issues that international students commonly face, they also provide a more complex and individualized picture of the needs and aspirations of overseas Kenyan students. As the case studies demonstrate, the academic and related challenges four Kenyan students have encountered at La Trobe University are best understood in relation to several contexts. The difficulties these international students have experienced in the context of transition or border crossing between two countries, cultures and educational systems were exacerbated by inadequate pre-departure preparation and orientation on arrival. Incongruities between two educational systems in particular between their prior teacher-centred schooling in Kenya and the unfamiliar student-centred university education in Australia colour the academic and related challenges such students struggle to address, at least in their initial year at University. The broader, global context of the commodification and marketization of higher education along with increasing strains of an under-resourced university sector in Australia also impinge upon the lives of these four La Trobe students, in a variety of ways.
4 citations
Cites background from "Achieving sustainable universal pri..."
...Most parents also were unmotivated to educate their children due to limited resources and reduced returns from education (Nafula 2001, pp.3-4)....
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...This has led to vigorous selection and competitive examinations (Sifuna 1990, p.167, Nafula 2001, pp.6-8)....
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References
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Book•
23 Jul 1992
TL;DR: In this paper, the EDURURAL project was used to evaluate the performance of primary schools in rural northeast Brazil and showed that improving the quality of schools could lead to gains in efficiency that more than offset the direct costs of the improvements.
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.
395 citations
TL;DR: This article presented new evidence on the impact of school characteristics on student achievement using an unusually rich data set from Ghana, showing that repairing classrooms is a cost-effective investment in Ghana, relative to providing more instructional materials and improving teacher quality.
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.
392 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: This paper used household level data collected in 1994 to examine probable determinants of poverty status, employing both binomial and polychotomous logit models, and found that poverty status is strongly associated with the level of education, household size and engagement in agricultural activity, both in rural and urban areas.
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.
201 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1989TL;DR: Using a rigorous theoretical model of the demand for schooling and the principle of compensating variations, the authors found 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.
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.
154 citations
01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: Abagi et al. as discussed by the authors examined issues of efficiency in the primary level of education in Kenya and suggested 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".
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
143 citations
"Achieving sustainable universal pri..." refers background in this paper
...They lose interest in education and, eventually, drop out (Abagi and Odipo 1997)....
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...However, a study by Abagi and Odipo (1997) indicates that in most public schools, particularly in the slum areas, management committees have limited control over pupil-to-teacher ratios....
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