FINANCING OPTIONS FOR UNIVERSAL FREE EDUCATION IN KENYA
Date
2011-04-19
Authors
Owino, Jean Okolla
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Abstract
When the Kenyan government abolished primary school fees in 2003, it was hoped that low enrolment and high dropout rates would be reversed. However, soon after its introduction, the classrooms were overflowing with new entrants, significantly exacerbating teacher: pupil ratio. The quality of education in the public schools has diminished and enrolment rates are dropping with the number of years spent in school. Some children of school-going age are still out of school. There is still marked shortage of schools, classrooms, teachers and learning materials, despite the fact that parents, donors and government have pulled together resources for the free primary education programme. Using a rich source of literature and secondary information from the Ministry of Education and Planning as well as information from the World Bank Library, this study sought to determine financing options for the free primary education in Kenya. It found out that there are still inadequate schools and classrooms that call for additional funding from government, donor community and households. It further found out that there are micro-factors such as poverty, gender, community and rural specific disadvantages that still keep children from these backgrounds out of school. Moreover, corruption and inefficiency of funds allocation at the Ministry of Education lead to leakages of funds that would otherwise have been put to better use. It recommended that the government and the donor community should continue to fund the construction of schools, training and employment of more teachers as well as devoting some funds to specific schools and households that are severely deprived. It further recommended that corruption at the Ministry of Education should be stamped out to recover some funds for the programme
Description
MBA - WBS
Keywords
Education, Kenya