Abstract
In recent decades, the world’s attention was focused on the second Millennium Development Goal (MDG2)—universal access to primary education. In Kenya, the government, like governments around the world, especially in Sub-Saharan African countries, has been building schools, training teachers, and improving learning inputs; and recently, in 2003, rolled out the Free Primary Education (FPE) policy. The new Sustainable Development Goal (SDG4) has shifted focus and now emphasizes learning in schools. The debate around what translates to learning is ongoing, and important questions remain unanswered. This chapter lays out the Kenyan education system following the reforms over the years and attempts to highlight one important factor often ignored in the education space in Kenya (and more generally unexplored in Sub-Saharan Africa)—cultural practices (e.g., language, income generating activities) and gender norms.
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Notes
- 1.
UNICEF uses an approach where tests correspond to the national grade 2 curriculum in Kenya (“UWEZO approach”), so that all third-grade students and above taking the test are expected to obtain maximum points. For more details on this, see UNICEF’s “Improving Quality Education and Children’s Learning Outcomes.”
- 2.
According to the University of Pennsylvania African Studies Center (n.d.), there are three main ethnic groups: the Bantu, the Nilotic, and the Cushite. During pre-colonial Kenya, various sub-groups belonged to each of them, but they did not establish themselves as kingdoms until later, when some did. Each group, however, exhibited independence on governance and had different governance structures. For example, the Kikuyus were governed by a council of elders based on clans. For the Akamba, however, elders were responsible for administrative and judicial events and oversaw traditional or religious rituals.
- 3.
Barazas are meetings attended by members of a community (usually in a village), either especially called on by the village head or scheduled periodically.
- 4.
The purpose of these first schools was to provide “training of catechists” (Oliver, 1966, p. 212).
- 5.
E. P. Girouard: Governor of the East Africa Protectorate, 1909–1912
- 6.
The three-tiered schools were meant for the three kinds of students, European (first tier), Asians (second tier), and Africans (third tier). Resource allocation by the colonial administration was disproportionate. Top tier schools received more support from the colonial administration compared to the second and third (Somerset, 2007). It is believed that students in top-tiered schools were taught a more rigorous curriculum compared to the lower-tiered schools. With a challenging examination at the end of primary school, Somerset (2007) illustrates inequalities by highlighting the share of students enrolling in secondary school, with transition rates being 1.3% among Africans compared to 98.9% of Europeans.
- 7.
Kenya is a multi-ethnic society. Forty-three different ethnicities reside in the country, and they all speak different languages. We refer to these languages as ‘indigenous languages.’ People of the same ethnicity usually reside within the same catchment area. This is not true for urban areas like Nairobi, which are mostly cosmopolitan. To this end, schools located in the same catchment area would usually have students of the same ethnicity.
- 8.
The ‘grade one laptop project’ was a digital learning program targeting students in grade one, and its aim was to integrate technology into the learning process in classrooms.
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Ipapa, G. (2020). Building Blocks and Barriers to Educational Attainment and Learning in Kenyan Schools: Preserving or Changing Cultural Identity Markers. In: Watzlawik, M., Burkholder, A. (eds) Educating Adolescents Around the Globe. Cultural Psychology of Education, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37900-1_5
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