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Free learning faces major test
As matatus went on strike on the first day of the school term, some children had to walk long distances. This boy hurried along with his sisters who were joining Standard One at Ziwa la Ng’ombe Primary School in Kisauni. Photo/GIDEON MAUNDU
Posted Monday, January 4 2010 at 20:00
In Summary
- First pupils to attend classes at no cost for eight years will sit KCPE exam this year
The first beneficiaries of free primary education for all eight years of primary school entered Standard Eight on Monday as schools reopened for first term.
But even with this feat, education analysts said the trend where private schools dominate in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam results should serve as a wake-up call to the government to strengthen the free learning programme.
Since the advent of free primary education (FPE) and later free day secondary education (FDSE) in 2008, both programmes have given millions of children access to education.
Enrolment in both primary and secondary schools has improved markedly.
Currently, the primary programme supports 8.2 million children (up from about 6 million in 2002) in 18,346 primary schools.
Some 1.2 million others are beneficiaries of the secondary programme.
But it is also estimated that there are about 1.8 million children who are yet to be brought on board.
A lot of investments, both monetary and in terms of staff, need to be provided if Kenya is to achieve the Education For All goal by 2015.
But achieving that goal should not mean enrolling the children in schools without considering the quality of education offered to them.
President Kibaki’s administration should therefore step up efforts to improve quality in the public schools if FPE is to remain a successful programme.
Something is amiss in public primary schools if the KCPE examination results are anything to go by.
Take, for instance, the KCPE 2009 results. An analysis shows that only 18 pupils from public primary schools made it to the list of the top 100.
But even more shocking is an analysis of the last 1,000 candidates who scored 100 marks and less, out of a possible 500, which showed that the bulk were from public primary schools.
Without conclusively saying that achieving good grades in the KCPE determines the future of the child, posting bad ones does not guarantee their future either.
Educationists will also argue that the ultimate goal of education should not be pegged on the grades scored in national exams.
Holistic concept
They further point out that education should be viewed as a holistic concept that should encompass physical, emotional and spiritual growth.
Technocrats in the Ministry of Education need to go back to the drawing board and come up with ways to make public schools more competitive.
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