I've read some interesting articles by professor James Tooley, who has shown that private sector schools in Africa are on average cheaper and offer better education than government-run schools. I don't know if this holds for Kenya as well, but I thought I should mention this here. Even with private education, the government could still play a role to ensure general access to schools.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Tooley
Feb 08, 2010
Kenya Education by: Archie Melrose
Molly,
Just to add to my fellow moderators comments. There is an intense parental following of pupils progress from Primary to Secondary and so on. Primary examination marks are posted everywhere and those that are above a particular total can then pick and choose which Secondary school to apply for. The marks are very important and will destine the child for a better educational future. This is dependent on the finances from parents.
It seems to me that there is no adequate provisions for those that do not make the cut off mark. Special Needs, Disabled, Hard of Hearing pupils will be left behind but there are NGO's which try to address these situations. Should it be down to NGO's to fill in the inadequacies of the Kenyan Education System???
Perhaps one day there will be free education for Secondary pupils and inclusive of all. It would not be hard to achieve but the economic shock to the many many profit making independent schools would cause an outrage.
On a personal note - I had to withdraw my fiance's daughter from one fee-paying boarding school as each term she came back skeletal and sick. I am happy to report she is doing well at her new school and speaking French better than Swahili.
Hope this helps
Archie
Feb 04, 2010
Education in Kenya by: Irene O.
Dear Molly,
During my stay in Kenya my children were attending a local private school. The level of the education in the primary schools were comparing the education in Europe, very low.
There is kindergarten'' where the children mostly play and sing and also do learn a bit. From standard one kids are going the whole day to school starting from early as 7 am to 4 or even 5 pm.
However the children of our children's home do attend class in the morning only so it different from which school the kids are going.
I truthfully believe that it is very hard for especially very young kids to stay alert the whole day to concentrate in class. The kindergarten kids do have a nap during the afternoon hours.
In the public schools the classes are very full and many kids dont even have their own desk. They sit on the floor so imagine how they have to learn.That is why the quality of the education is quite different from ours and private schools.
The private schools are not so full and do have often better facilities but is only attended by kids of the higher standard income families.
Governments Primary schools are free but the books and uniforms are not free and therefore many children of poor families are not going to school.
Secondary schools are not for free so you must be lucky when your parents can afford to pay for it. There are also university's and I think the level of the education is not that much different from ours.
This is from my own experiences so I would like to invite a Kenyan reading this to add his or her comments.
Regards Irene O.
Feb 03, 2010
education... by: Cassandra Marie
Hello,
The quality of education in Kenya is the same as any where else in the world....it depends on what school the students go to and how motivated they are.
In Kenya there are government run schools as well as private. There are Universities and vocational school for post secondary education. Also there is a new movement in Kenya for preschool or nursery school. So in Kenya there are many options for school and attendance will be based in the families income as well as location.
Each child will have a different experience when it comes to school, same as each child in Europe and in the States. Because Kenya is a developing nation there are many children that are not attending school do to the families' incomes but there is a educational system in place in Kenya.
