Introduction Of Free Primary Education Research Articles

An Examination of the Factors contributing to Learner Dropout at Grade Six Level in Manzini Region Primary Schools

Learner dropout remains a challenge in Eswatini despite the introduction of free primary education by the government. The study established the factors that contribute to learner dropout at the grade six level in the Manzini region. An interpretivist research philosophy and a qualitative research approach were adopted to collect the study’s data. A case study design made it possible to collect detailed data from purposively selected participants in three public primary schools. Interviews were held with two head teachers while nine grade six teachers took part in focus group discussions. Findings revealed that school-related factors like overcrowded classrooms, poor performance and non-availability of practical subjects that aligned with learners’ interests and abilities contributed to learner dropout. Findings further revealed that poverty, child labour, peer pressure, teenage pregnancy, lack of parental involvement, and initiation into cultural practices and activities contributed to learner dropout. The study recommended that the government should build more schools and classrooms and hire more qualified teachers to reduce overcrowding in classrooms and the distance walked by learners to school. The government should also support needy learners from disadvantaged backgrounds with basic necessities such as sanitary pads for girls. The Ministry of Education should introduce practical subjects like Carpentry, Art, Music and Dance to cater for the interests and abilities of different learners. Schools should promote parental involvement and core curricula activities to engage, motivate and retain learners. The study contributes to the body of knowledge by suggesting strategies that can mitigate learner dropout which is a widespread challenge in the SADC region and other African countries. Keywords: Factors, Learner, Dropout, Manzini, Primary Schools

SUBSIDIZED FREE DAY SECONDARY SCHOOL EDUCATION PROGRAM AND ITS INFLUENCE ON GIRLS’ SCHOOL PARTICIPATION IN NANDI NORTH SUB-COUNTY, KENYA

<p>Despite the introduction of free primary education by the Government of Kenya in 2003 and subsequent subsidized secondary education in 2008, there are still challenges in access, retention and completion of girls in Nandi County. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of subsidized day secondary education program on girls’ school participation in Nandi North Sub-County, Kenya. The study adopted mixed method approach and descriptive survey research design. This study was guided by Education Production Function theory. The data were collected using questionnaires and interview schedules to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data from respective respondents. The target population comprised 20 head teachers, 60 class teachers and 1320 girls drawn from 20 public day secondary schools in the Nandi North Sub-County. From these populations, a sample of 20 head teachers, 60 class teachers and 396 girls were drawn using census method on head teachers and class teachers, and random sampling technique was used to select 30 percent of girls from one to form three. The study used questionnaires to collect data from the girls and class teachers and interviewed head teachers. The instruments were validated and a piloted questionnaire that obtained a reliable 0.78 Cronbach alpha test score used. Quantitative data obtained from the questionnaires have been analyzed to obtain frequencies and percentages. Qualitative data obtained from the interviewees have been analyzed thematically in accordance to the research questions. The study found out that inadequate funds allocated to girls and school infrastructural facilities affected girls’ participation in secondary school education to a great extent. However, in general, teaching and learning materials were adequate and enhanced instruction and students’ performance. The study therefore recommends that parents should complement government effort and that government should increase allocation of subsidy funds to students especially girls and disburse the funds in time to schools.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0809/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Demystifying Privatization of Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Do Poor Households Utilize Private Schooling because of Perceived Quality, Distance to School, or Low Fees?

This article examines why poor urban households utilize low-fee private schools despite the government’s pro-poor free primary education program in Kenya. Cross-sectional data collected in 2010 through a demographic surveillance survey is analyzed. Students’ parents responded to questions concerning their perceptions of the quality of schooling after the introduction of free primary education. In total, 6,660 students living in 4,220 households are included in the analysis. A structural equation model was estimated to investigate how perceived quality of schooling, direct schooling costs, and distance to school affected the household’s choice of school. Results show that poor households utilize low-fee private schools because of physical convenience, rather than quality of education and/or low-fees charged. We conclude that enhanced accessibility to government schools among poor urban households and provision of capitation grants targeting children from these households rather than the schools are urgently needed.

The Effects of Education on Financial Outcomes: Evidence from Kenya

AbstractWe study the effects of education on the financial outcomes of young people using Kenya’s introduction of free primary education (FPE) in 2003 as an exogenous shock to schooling. Our identi...

Stakeholder Engagement in Monitoring and Evaluation and Performance of Literacy and Numeracy Educational Programme in Public Primary Schools in Nairobi County, Kenya

Kenya’s education has faced by many challenges especially in literacy and numeracy skills since the introduction of free primary education. This was contributed by swelling of enrollment in classrooms hence low performance of literacy and numeracy skills. The purpose of this article is to establish the extent to which stakeholder engagement influence performance of literacy and numeracy educational programme in public primary schools in Nairobi County, Kenya. Despite various efforts by key educational stakeholders to improve learner’s performance, minimal achievement have been experienced on learner’s skills. This study adapted descriptive research survey design and correlational research design. Data collected from the respondents by use of questionnaires and interview schedules from a target population of 2053 and a sample size of 335. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 25 and results presented in tables and figures. Arithmetic mean and standard deviation generated from the descriptive data and Pearson moment correlation coefficient (r) were computed. The coefficient of determination R2 is 0.480 this is an indicator that R2 was the coefficient of determination of this model and it depicted that stakeholder engagement explained 48%. The remaining 52% was explained by other factors. The overall F statistics 257.949 with p- 0.000b<0.05 implying a statistical significant relationship between stakeholder engagement and performance of literacy and numeracy educational programme. Interpretations were done and recommendations were policy makers should embrace the methodology of engaging all the stakeholders in programme. This was an indication of strong positive relationship between Stakeholder engagement and performance of literacy and numeracy educational programme. The results showed that stakeholder engagement for monitoring and evaluation strongly influenced the performance of literacy and numeracy educational programme as shown by a correlation coefficient, which was statically significant. Learners should explore more things on their own in order to make predictive answers. Recommendations for further research on participatory monitoring and evaluation practices, which was lacking and specifically involvement of all the stakeholders in the intervention programme in basic education.

Influence of Headteachers’ Motivation Practices on Girls’ Access to Public Primary Education in Garissa Sub-county, Garissa County, Kenya

Introduction of Free Primary Education has increased demand for primary education. However, the number of girls’ accessing primary education is still below expectations with the ratio of boys to girls being 5:2 in Garissa Sub-County. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of headteachers’ motivation practices on girls’ access to primary education in Garissa Sub-County, Garissa County, Kenya. The study was guided by the Management Practices and Pearson’s Gender Relations Theories. The study adopted mixed methodology and descriptive research design. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically along the objectives and presented in narrative forms. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation and inferentially using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 23) and presented using tables. The study established that headteachers’ motivation practices influence girls’ access to public primary education. Thus, the study recommends that headteachers need to change their approaches of motivating girls to enroll in schools. School supervision by the headteacher and the Directorate of Quality Assurance and Standards should be enhanced for monitoring to give proper guidance to the headteachers on the need to implement child rights education in their schools.

Government Expenditure and Quality of Education: A Case of Public Primary Schools in Kenya

Government allocation to primary education in Kenya has been provided since independence. The financing has been complemented by both community and household resources. The implementation of Free Primary Education (FPE) in 2003 increased enrolment to a Gross Enrolment Rate of 104 percent in 2003 from 92 percent in 2002 but stabilized at 104.2 percent in 2015. Class-pupil and teacher-pupil ratio increased to 45:1 and 56.6 between 2002/3 and 2012/3 respectively which compromised the quality of education and school effectiveness. This was due to teachers concentrating on the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations results at the expense of skill acquisition in arithmetic and comprehension. The compromise produced biased KCPE results that could affect key policy decisions made based on the results. Despite increased enrolment that affected class-pupil and pupil-teacher ratio, 35 percent of households’ expenditure to education before FPE implementation was saved with the introduction of FPE. In the past, the measure of education quality has been KCPE results which were mostly biased. The KCPE results were low with FPE despite increased government expenditure on education. Although FPE benefits seemed high, questions on actual impact of government expenditure on overall school performance measured by education quality levels had not been addressed before, during and after the FPE implementation and they form the problem discussed in the study. Analysis results revealed that government expenditure had positive and statistically significant impact on enrolment and quality of education Coefficients for school characteristics such as number of classes, teachers, books and availability of toilets had positive and at least 95% - 99% statistical significance with government expenditure. Further, coefficients for class types and schools located in rural areas were found to affect enrolment at 99% statistical significance. Further, education quality was low in 2004 as compared to 2000 but improved in 2012 compared to 2004. Class-pupil & pupil–toilet ratio, distance from small town, dispensary, bookshop, and secondary school, as well as class type, contributed negatively to efficiency scores. Class-book ratio, government expenditure, playfield availability, and class numbers contributed to the inefficiency levels identified. On policy, it was clear that the government should increase expenditure on education which affected overall school performance in public primary schools. The expenditure should be increased towards quality classes and teachers who are high determinants of education quality.

Lake Fishing Factors on Pupils School Attendance Pattern in Developing Countries. A Case of Madiany Division, Siaya County Kenya

Developing countries education system includes both academic and technical training at primary, secondary and tertiary levels (Ward et al. 2006). Formal primary schooling lasts for eight years and seven years respectively. The paper presents the lake fishing factors on primary school pupils attendance patterns in developing countries with focus to Madiany Division, Siaya County located on the shores of Lake Victoria. The introduction of free primary education in Kenya in 2003 was introduce to map out all children who parents could not afford to pay the school fee and enable them access and completion basic education but this has not actually been achieved KNEC report 2010. The paper identify school attendance pattern by pupils and determined probable reasons influencing the attendance patterns. The findings presented in this paper shows that pupils attendance patterns to school is not steady and fluctuates based on the gender, age, and class category and lake activities. The attendance rate per year was found to be at 67.35%, girls attended school more (39.8%) compared to boys (27.51%). It was also established that pupils school attendance patterns was most directly influenced by fishing activities that the community living around the lake practice. The paper highlights policy implications on the topic under study.

Access, poverty and learning achievement for primary school leavers in Kenya: analysis of evidence from 47 counties

To what extent, if at all, did the introduction of free primary education in Kenya in 2003 have positive equity effects, in terms of both access and achievement. Access is based on the number of candidates sitting the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination and the KCPE score is used to measure achievement levels. The study uses data that reflects Kenya’s 47 devolved governance counties. A quantitative measure of poverty in all 47 counties was then entered as an independent variable of regression analysis, and a negative association with KCPE performance noted (high poverty levels associated with low KCPE scores). Also noted was a contrast between counties showing high enrolment impact and improved KCPE scores, and those showing high enrolment impact and lower KCPE scores. Counties in the former group are located almost entirely in arid and semi-arid areas, those in the latter group in the coastal region.

Does community involvement affect teacher effort? Assessing learning impacts of Free Primary Education in Kenya

While the impressive school participation impacts of Universal Primary Education policies in Sub-Saharan Africa are widely recognized, attempts to measure learning gains from schooling remain minimal. Utilizing a unique international test score dataset, we measure and explain grade six reading and math learning outcomes in Kenya. By comparing competences between public and private schools before and after the introduction of free primary education, we find large achievement declines and inequalities based on gender and socioeconomic status. The declines are associated with low teacher efforts and community disengagement. Policy studies on community involvement in schools will likely lead to improved learning.

Determinants of Primary School Non-Enrollment and Absenteeism: Results from a Retrospective, Convergent Mixed Methods, Cohort Study in Rural Western Kenya.

BackgroundEducation is a key element in the socioeconomic development required to improve quality of life in Kenya. Despite the introduction of free primary education, primary school enrollment and attendance levels remain low. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data, this study explores the determinants of non-enrollment and absenteeism in rural western Kenya and potential mitigation strategies to address these issues.MethodsThe study was conducted in Bwaliro village in rural western Kenya. A random sample of 64 students was obtained by blocking the village primary school’s student population according to grade level, gender, and orphan status. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected through interviews with parents, guardians, and key informants, and focus group discussions with students. Quantitative data were compared using chi-square tests, Student’s T-test, and Poisson regressions. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic content analysis.ResultsMalaria, menstruation, and lack of money were among the most notable determinants of primary school dropout and absenteeism, and these factors disproportionately impacted orphans and female students. Potential mitigation strategies suggested by the community included provision of malaria treatment or prevention, reduction in education costs, expansion of the established school-feeding program, and provision of sanitary pads.ConclusionDespite free primary education, numerous factors continue to prevent children in rural western Kenya from attending primary school. The findings suggest that interventions should primarily target orphaned and female students. Prior to implementation, suggested mitigation strategies should be assessed for cost-effectiveness.

The persisting challenge of age-for-grade non-compliance in post-free primary education in Kenya

This article examines the prevalence of non-compliance on the age-for-grade policy in the post-free primary education system in Kenya. We utilised data from the 2009 cohort of enrolled primary schoolchildren. The analysis revealed non-compliance to be a persisting concern in the school system, characterised by both under-age and over-age enrolment at the age-for-grade level of analysis in spite of the introduction of free primary education in 2003. Irrespective of the nature of non-compliance, overcrowding in the lower grades is more prevalent, with potential for adverse compromises in quality of learning and the attendant added dimension of the mismatched grade-for-age curricula.

Effectiveness of Ministry of Education Efforts to Strengthen Early Childhood Education and its Effect on Formal Education in Kenya

Early childhood education in Kenya is a standalone level from the mainstream 8.4.4 system of education. The government unlike other levels of education, that is; primary, secondary and university levels are not directly involved in running it. The teachers at this level are paid by communities, churches and other Non Governmental Organisations that are involved in provision of Early Childhood Education. With the introduction of free primary education in the year 2003, this level was left out. This lead to influx of pupils to standard one directly by the parents who could not afford the fees charged at early childhood level and thus affecting the quality of learners. The ministry of Education has thus tried to come up with various mechanisms of addressing this level.

Institutions and Service Delivery in Africa: An Overview

Institutions play a very crucial role in service delivery in Africa. The three papers in this issue explore the role of various institutions, both public and private, in delivering efficient services to promote economic growth. The first paper by Bold and Svensson is on Policies and Institutions for Effective Service Delivery: The Need of a Microeconomic and Micro-Political Approach. The authors review evidence on recent trends and outcomes in the education and health sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on the quality in service provision. The paper views low and ineffective spending on service delivery sectors as a symptom of the underlying institutional environment decay. The paper further argues that a microeconomic approach that explicitly takes political and bureaucratic incentives and constraints into account provides a fruitful, and complementary, way forward. The main finding of the paper is that innovations in the measurement of performance and ability in education and health open up ways to influence the political economic equilibrium. The second paper by Bold, Kimenyi and Sandefur looks at public and private provision of education in Kenya. The authors examine the superior examination performance of private primary schools and elite public secondary schools and test whether this performance reflects causal returns to the school type. The main finding is that, although there is a large increase in primary school enrolment following the introduction of free primary education, the increase is primarily driven by the increase in private school enrolments. The third paper by Blimpo, Harding and Wantchekon focuses on Public Investment in Infrastructure Giving Deliberations on Some Political Economy Considerations. The article constructs a unique data set to study the extent of the relationship between political marginalisation, public investment in transport infrastructure and food security in Benin, Ghana, Mali and Senegal. The main finding of the paper is that political marginalisation indirectly affects food security, via its impact on the quality of transport infrastructure. Moreover, the density of roads per square kilometre has a significant negative relationship to food insecurity. Copyright 2013 , Oxford University Press.

An evaluation of factors that affect performance of primary schools in Kenya: A case study of Gatanga district

Recently, the Kenyan government reaffirmed its commitment to enabling majority of its citizen’s access to education through establishment of free primary education program and subsidizing secondary education. However, despite all these efforts, the education sector continues to face myriads of problems, major one being skewed performance in Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) across the many regions of the country. Gatanga district in Central province is one of the many districts witnessing poor performance in KCPE over the last eight years. As such, this study was designed to find out the underlying issues leading to poor performance in KCPE in the district with special focus on all primary schools in the administrative unit. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population was primary schools in Kenya and the study population is public primary schools in Gatanga district. A census approach was used to select all the 56 public primary schools. A questionnaire was the main instrument for data collection. Data was qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed. The major findings were that Gatanga public primary schools were overwhelmed by the high number of students coming with the introduction of free primary education. Discipline of pupils was found to have minimal influence on KCPE performance while stakeholders’ support was deemed necessary to supplement school administrations’ activities. The study concludes that introduction of free primary education in Kenya has greatly affected teachers’ teaching workload, hence poor performance schools. The study recommended employment of more teachers by the school boards to supplement the government-employed teachers as well as frequent inservice trainings for all teachers.

Enrolment and Grade Attainment following the Introduction of Free Primary Education in Tanzania

The elimination of all primary school fees in January 2002 in Tanzania marked the start of the ambitious Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP). This programme aimed to enhance not only access to primary education but also the quality of teaching. This paper examines the effects of the introduction of free primary education on school enrolment and grade achievement. Data from the 2001 Household Budget Survey (HBS), collected just before the reform, and the 2007 HBS, collected 5 years into the programme, are employed to examine these effects. This is done by running a difference-in-difference comparison using a before-and-after comparison for age cohorts that did and did not benefit from the reform. School fee elimination is found to have enhanced enrolment rates significantly with girls, children from poorer families benefiting most. The impact of the reform on grade achievement, however, is found to have been negative, particularly for those living in rural areas and children from poor households. PEDP, thus, created a dilemma as increased opportunities for one set of deserving children went at the expense of opportunities for other, equally deserving children. Copyright 2013 , Oxford University Press.

Improving the quality of education: Kenya's next challenge

ABSTRACTKenya is experiencing a rapid increase in primary school enrolments following the introduction of free primary education in 2003. This has impacted on the quality of education received by children, and the levels of achievement in state schools. This article explores the educational pressures on a primary school in rural western Kenya and the views of its teachers concerning the quality of the educational experience they provide. Absenteeism, overcrowding, poor school infrastructure and a plethora of local languages all affect pupil progress, which in turn impacts on the perception of the quality and value of education among the rural population. As well as increased funding for education, improvements in initial teacher training and in-service training (INSET) are needed to raise the reputation of the profession to attract new and more able teachers.

CHALLENGES FACED IN IMPLEMENTING FREE PRIMARY EDUCATION FOR PASTORALISTS IN KENYA

Governments in Sub-Saharan Africa allocate between 5% and 25% of public expenditure budgets to education ministries, because education is seen, correctly, as a major contributor to human welfare, social and economic development (World Bank, 2005). It is clear that these large expenditures are sub-optimal and provide less than the expected return. This situation has been felt more acutely with the introduction of free primary education (FPE). Despite the high enrolment in FPE in urban areas, the response from pastoral communities has been rather lukewarm.The general objective of the study was to investigate the challenges faced in implementing Free Primary Education policy among pastoralists in Kenya. Consequently, the rationale of this study lies in need to evaluate the impact of an educational policy and find out how its implementation responds to challenges in provision of access to Primary Schooling. The study adopted ethnographic research design that utilised purposive sampling technique and saturation procedure to select a total of 170 respondents that included head teachers, teachers, parents, school dropouts, educational managers, community leaders, and Non Governmental Organizations. Purposive sampling was used to select individuals, groups and organizations that would provide insight into the study. Data was collected using focus group interviews, structured and unstructured interviews, observation, and document analysis. Subsequently, data was collected by use of questionnaire that was sent to head-teachers and education officials and was used only to validate the qualitative data. The collected data was coded, analyzed, described and summarized in order to generate themes on educational policy and practice. The study identified various challenges such as: inadequate funding; poor infrastructure; limited awareness towards education; limited community support; insecurity and cattle rustling and lifestyle of pastoralists that impedes the government’s efforts to attain FPE. These challenges threatened the implementation of FPE for pastoralists and further illustrate the complex and messy process of policy implementation in education sector. Key words: free primary education (FPE), policy implementation, pastoral communities, challenges.

Do poverty dynamics explain the shift to an informal private schooling system in the wake of free public primary education in Nairobi slums?

With the introduction of free primary education (FPE) in Kenya in 2003, it was expected that the burden on poor households in financing primary education would be reduced substantially. This in turn would increase enrolment in public schools and lead to universal primary education. However, studies have shown that a considerable proportion of households in urban slums continue to enrol their children in pro-poor fee charging informal schools. The reasons presented in the available literature to explain this phenomenon of why poor slum-residing households bypass free public education are varied and some are simply speculative. In this paper, we hypothesise that poverty dynamics can partly explain households' decisions on the type of school in which to enrol their children. The analysis is based on longitudinal data collected by the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC) using urban demographic surveillance in two slums of Nairobi, Kenya. The data covers the period between 2005 and 2009 with a sample of 6965 pupils spread across 3763 households. Logistic regression methods are applied. The findings reveal that moving in and out of poverty can affect the type of schooling decision a household makes, with one quarter of those moving out of poverty shifting schools. The findings demonstrate that there is both willingness and ability to pay by the slum residents that is driving the utilisation of the private schools. The decisions are not random occurrences, but seem systematic and rational – parents want quality and affordability and a good number of those whose economic situation improved do not seem to believe the public schools, even under FPE, offers quality. The policy implication to be drawn from these findings is that the private schools for the poor should not simply be dismissed as 'informal schools' because it seems they have some features which are attracting parents to choose them and leave the state system. Free primary education policy is being 'rejected' by a good number of parents in the slums and this needs further investigation, as 'excess' demand as suggested in some research papers does not seem to be the only explanation.

The Free Education Policy in Kenya: A Critique.

Educational reforms are crucial in a country if the reforms benefit the intended target group. One of the educational reforms in Kenya was the introduction of Free Primary Education. This was informed by the need to improve access and equity in provision of education. Informed by the need to eradicate ignorance, poverty and disease, the independent Kenya government took to finance education soon after independence with Free Primary Education being fully realized in 1978. Later following the introduction of structural adjustment programme in 1990s and the World Bank recommendations, cost sharing in education was instituted. This saw a big number of children drop out of school due to poverty and other pressures from the education managers who were charging school levies. The national rainbow coalition government which came to power in 2003 instituted Free Primary Education to actualize one of the campaign pledges. This article critically discusses the Free Primary Education policy in Kenya articulating the benefits and the challenges thereof within the policy formulation framework. Suggestions are made on the best way to develop and implement policies to tackle challenges which emanate from implementing policies in haste. Key words: Policy, primary education.