Education Needs Assessment for Kisumu City, Kenya

Spatial mapping for improved intra-urban education planning

Abstract: This paper was commissioned by the Global Education Monitoring Report as background information to assist in drafting the 2016 report. It has not been edited by the team. The views and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and should not be attributed to the Global Education Monitoring Report or to UNESCO. The papers can be cited with the following reference: “Paper commissioned for the Global Education Monitoring Report 2016, Education for All 2000-2015: achievements and challenges” For further information, please contact gemreport@unesco.org. Background paper prepared for the 2016 Global Education Monitoring Report

Herpes simplex virus type 2 seroprevalence, HIV and Antiretroviral therapy knowledge and beliefs in the general population in Kisumu, Kenya

Abstract: With the increasing use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in developing countries, little is known on the potential impact of large-scale ART use on sexual behavior. We used Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection as a marker for sexual behavior to aid in assessing the association between ART related knowledge and beliefs and sexual behavior. This cross-sectional study analyzed secondary data collected in Kisumu’s general population. A total of 1,655 participants (749 men, 906 women) aged 15 to 49yrs were interviewed. Socio-demographic factors, prevalence of HSV-2 and ART related knowledge and beliefs and their association with HSV-2 infection were evaluated. Overall, the prevalence of HSV-2 was 53%, and significantly higher in females (65%) than males (38%), p 2 times odds of having HSV-2 (aOR: 2.02, 95% CI: 1.1 to 3.43) similar observations in females (aOR: 2.14, 95% CI: 1.34 to 3.40). Misinformation on ART capability may lead to increased HIV and sexually transmitted infection incidence if people think they are a cure for HIV. Targeted informative messages on ART to those at risk may aid in reducing the incidence of HSV-2. Key words: Antiretroviral therapy, knowledge, beliefs, herpes simplex virus, general population, Kisumu, Kenya.

Voices of the poor : poverty and social capital in Tanzania

Abstract: This study reveals the power and utility of participatory methods for policy research It demonstrates practices and processes that can tap the knowledge the poor have about their own reality By comparing and contrasting findings from participatory methods with findings from more conventional household consumption and expenditure surveys, the study identifies poverty indicators used by local people at the village level It also shows how using these measures leads to different conclusions about the causes and nature of poverty and reveals the policy and institutional methods that can best address the problem and how development policies must take gender differences into account if they are to be effective The study also demystifies the concept of social capital at the local level and provides quantifiable evidence that village-level social capital -- membership in groups with particular characteristics -- significantly affects household welfare

African Higher Education: An International Reference Handbook

Abstract: Preliminary Table of Contents: It's very long. Please see DRM if you need more detail. Preface Acknowledgments Part 1. Theme-Based Chapters Part 2. Country Chapters Bibliography Index

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

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

The Contribution of Non-Formal Schools in Enhancing the Provision of Basic Education in Kenya

Abstract: The drive to access basic education to school aged children, has preoccupied successive governments in independent Kenya. This has been evidenced by a series of activities aimed at boosting school enrolment and learning ranging from heavy allocation of the national budget to education, currently standing at 6.3% of the GDP, to the current implementation of the free primary education policy. Yet despite all this effort attaining EFA has remained illusive. So while primary school enrolment in 2003 rose from 5.8 to 7.1 million, it is estimated that there are still 2 million non-enrolled children. It is this reality of OOS children, that has over the years prompted a number of individuals or organizations, operating outside the formal system to initiate endeavours offering formal education. From individual cases in the 1980s, these initiatives multiplied in the 1990s and came to be formally recognised a Non Formal Schools (NFS). Policy documents exalted their role in reaching specific populations of excluded children and hence achieving EFA. However, no detailed study had been conducted on NFS in terms of their numbers, education provisions, to whom they are offered, how they are offered, their viability of replication and their overall place in the primary school education plan in the country. The task of this study was therefore to investigate how alternative learning approaches, such as NFS contribute to the provision of basic education in Kenya. This was done by examining the characteristics of NFS with respect to school orientation and classroom culture and how this enhances the attainment of basic education skills. Specifically, the study sought to (a) identify and analyse NFS according to school category and functions (b) understand their learning processes and factors impacting on them and (c) thereafter posit the contributions NFS are making towards enhancing the provision of basic education in Kenya. The study designed to answer the above objectives adopted an interactive research design comprising the quantitative and qualitative paradigms. First an institutional mapping survey comprising 30 institutions was conducted. Thereafter 8 cases were selected for detailed study. Additionally a desk review of NFE approaches targeting school aged children in selected countries was undertaken. The selection of the sites was informed by the fact that NFS are visible from a geographic point of view as they are mainly to be found in rural-remote districts and urban poor areas. Hence NFS in Samburu and Marsabit to represent Rural and Kisumu and Nairobi too represent Urban were studied. The data collection and analysis procedures were guided by the “nine building blocks of education” framework suggested by Anderson (1992) who suggests that optimum outcomes in education are the result of effective interaction among the 9 blocks viz. the learners, teachers, time, place, curriculum, pedagogy, community participation, administration and finances. The work is also presented along these nine blocks. On the whole, the study reveals that there has been an overly romanticism of the role of “alternative provisions”. NFS are ascribed a big role without accompanying changes in policy and financing and without a full examination of its ability to provide an equitable learning experience. The schools are envisioned to augment the countries basic education plan and yet they have not been properly empowered to do so. Government documents depict a lack of clarity of the place of NFS in the overall basic education plan. For instance, they are quoted to be complementary institutions but the findings suggest that the majority of NFS, especially in urban are parallel institutions, competing against formal education rather than complementing it and operating in a vague and uncoordinated linkage with formal institutions (e.g. primary schools, examination council) offering basic education. The wording “non” has been used to justify difference which unfortunately has taken the shape of “just teaching” questionable content using equally questionably pedagogical skills. It is evident that NFS needs streamlining and this study makes suggestions on a more comprehensive educational plan that would accommodate vulnerable children and their quest for formal education. In this sense, this work belongs to the broader theme of school reform.

Low participation in adult literacy classes: reasons behind it

Abstract: Kenya's adult literacy programme was launched with pomp and circumstance in 1979 but has since experienced a downward trend in learner participation to the extent that observers wonder whether it still exists. In this article, the author describes the factors that contribute to low participation rates among learners and discusses the possible factors which research suggests might be responsible for this problem.