Kenya is an East African country and serves as the entry point to the region. According to data from the World Bank, it had a population of around 55 million by 2021. About 40% of its total population is engaged in agriculture for their livelihoods.

According to USAID, over 65% of Kenyans live in poverty, making less than $3.20 daily. Kenya became a lower-middle-income country in 2014, with a GDP of over 100$ billion by 2021.

 

Educational Statistics for Kenya

 

Key Education Statistics for Kenya

  • According to the World Bank, the literacy rate in Kenya in 2014 was 79%. In 2018, the literacy rate rose to 82%, only a 3% increase in 4 years.

 

 

  • WISER and Beads for Education are two of the most popular organizations working on academic women empowerment in Kenya, according to a 2020 BORGEN Magazine article on female education in Kenya during the pandemic.

 

 

  • Most countries have 12 years of schooling, whereas in Kenya, especially in arid and semi-arid areas, the expected years of schooling are around 6.5 years. The only county in Kenya with an EYS of 12 years of schooling is Nairobi.

 

What Is the Literacy Rate in Kenya?

According to the UNESCOliteracy rate means the percentage of a population of a particular group that can read and write. Adult literacy rate refers to people of age 15 and above. Youth literacy relates to people of age 15 to 24. UNESCO is a specialized agency of the United Nations working for global peace through education, arts, culture, and science.

As a reference for comparison, the global literacy rate by 2020 was 87%. This is according to data from the World Bank and an article published on Statista and the World Economic Forum in September 2022.

What Is the Literacy Rate in Kenya

According to a World Bank report in 2022, the literacy rate in Kenya in 2014 was 79%. In 2018, it rose slightly to 82%, only a 3% increase in 4 years. According to the data, in 2007, the rate was 72%. The trend in literacy rate from 2007 to 2018 shows a slow but upward climb in efforts to promote education.

Unfortunately, the literacy rate in Kenya is still 5% less than the global average of 87%.

 

How Does the Kenyan Education System Work?

According to the Kenyan National Qualifications Authority, the country’s education system is structured as follows:

How Does the Kenyan Education System Work

Source: KNQA

 

Pre-Primary (1-2 years)

Children under the age of 6 may join pre-primary classes, which may last 1-2 years.

 

Primary (8 years)

Primary education is free and mandatory in Kenya. The subjects involve:

  • Languages
  • Mathematics and science
  • History, geography, and religious studies

Once students complete their primary education, they can opt to go into vocational training or pursue secondary education.

 

Secondary or Vocational (4 years)

Secondary education offers students options to further study subjects such as the following:

  • Biology, Physics, Chemistry
  • Literature
  • Agriculture, construction and metalwork

 

Tertiary (1-4 years)

Once students have completed their vocational or secondary education, they can complete their tertiary education with the usual courses like Bachelor, Master, and Ph. D.

 

How Many Children Go to School in Kenya?

To capture the statistics on how many children in Kenya attend school, we will refer to Statista. Statista is a German customer data-providing company that utilizes more than 22,500 sources from 170 industries.

How Many Children Go to School in Kenya

In August 2022, Statista published a report about the number of students in Kenya enrolled in primary schools. The period reflected in this data is from 2015 to 2020. According to the report:

  • The number of students in primary school enrollment for the years 2017 and 2018 is almost 10.4 million and 10.5 million.
  • For the years 2019 and 2020, the enrollments were 10.07 million and 10.17 million.

Thus, the highest rate in terms of enrollment number for Kenyan students in primary education was in the year 2018.

According to data from the Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics’ 2022 Economic Survey:

  • Pre-primary schooling enrollment in the country increased from 2.8 million (2020) to 2.84 million (2021).
  • The increase in the percentage of total primary school enrollment was 1.1% to 10.3 million in 2021.
  • In contrast, enrollment in secondary schools increased to 3.7 million (4.9%) in 2021.

In 2020, UNICEF published an article on the education situation in Kenya. It mentions that due to the pandemic and the global lockdown in 2020, almost 17 million students had their education interrupted. These 17 million children in Kenya missed more than six months of formal education.

In August 2022, Statista published a report on the population distribution in Kenya by the highest level of education completed as of 2019.

population distribution in Kenya

 

The report’s findings are as follows:

Pre-Primary

The pre-primary education completion rate is 5.3%. This shows that kindergarten education was not a norm in the country.

Primary

The education level with the highest completion rate in Kenya is primary schooling. The completion rate in terms of percentage for primary schooling is 49.8%.

Secondary

Secondary education comes in second place with a completion rate of 24.5%.

Vocational

Following that, in third place is middle-level/technical or vocational training types of education with a completion rate of 7.1%.

University

The university-level completion rate is only 3.5%.

 

Female Education in Kenya

The State of Female Education in Kenya

In December 2020, Borgen Magazine wrote an article on female education in Kenya during the pandemic. Borgen magazine is a project of the Borgen Project and is concerned with politics, human rights, and influential humanitarian organizations.

The article, first and foremost, begins with acknowledging the issues faced by the females of Kenya concerning education. The problems girls face in Kenya regarding seeking an education are not recent. They have been going on for several years.

 

Social Norms

Many girls in Kenya drop out of school because of domestic responsibilities, menstruation, and teen pregnancy. Due to the pandemic, things have gotten even worse for females in Kenya regarding education.

 

Closure of Boarding Schools

The most significant negative effect of the pandemic on female education has been the closure of boarding schools due to lockdowns. For many years, boarding schools had been a refuge, especially for females. These types of schools are run by the government provide and provide free education, protection, and support. Many girls who studied at these boarding schools are from rural areas with meagre financial resources.

 

Lack of Technological Infrastructure

Due to the government’s imposed closure of schools, these girls are forced to continue their education online. The rural areas of Kenya are deprived of the technology required to access online education. They may also need more money to buy books and basic stationery.

 

Early Marriage and FGM

Due to the school closures, girls are at their residences longer, making them more prone to violence and child marriage. In African countries, particularly Kenya, girls being home more often may increase their chances of facing genital mutilation. 89% of females have been circumcised in a rural northern part of Kenya called Maasailand. Although Kenya’s government has banned female gender mutilation, the practice is still common among the locals.

 

Efforts to Improve the Situation

The Borgen Magazine article also mentioned two major organizations trying to improve the conditions for females in Kenya through educational support. WISER and Beads for Education are two of the most popular organizations working on this issue.

WISER’s mission is to keep girls in school to reduce early teen pregnancies by educating girls through sexual education. In 2016, all WISER female graduates went on to higher education programs. During the pandemic, WISER distributed food, sanitary items, and face masks. More importantly, they helped keep girls stay connected by installing at-home education facilities.

Another prominent organization working on female education in Kenya is Beads for Education. Beads for Education helps in educational advancement and promotes gender equality. This organization was first established in 1993 and has helped more than 500 girls in Kenya with their educational dreams.

 

Which Parts of Kenya Are the Most Educated

Which Parts of Kenya Are the Most Educated?

In 2020, an article about the counties in Kenya with the highest literacy rates was published on VictorMatara.com. Victor Matara’s blog is purely Kenyan-based and provides comprehensive information on the subject.

The following are the counties with the highest literacy rates:

  1.  Nairobi County – 89%
  2.  Kiambu County – 88%
  3.  Kirinyaga County – 87%
  4.  Muranga County – 86%
  5.  Machakos County – 85%
  6.  Nakuru County – 78%
  7.  Kisumu County – 76%
  8.  Kisii County – 74%
  9. Kericho County – 73%
  10.  Homabay County – 71%

 

What Are the Biggest Issues in the Kenya Education System?

In June 2022, the World Bank wrote an article on the lessons from Kenya’s educational reforms. The article highlighted the issues that are dragging the education system in Kenya behind.

What Are the Biggest Issues in the Kenya Education System

1.   Regional Inequality

Regional inequality is one of the most significant issues in Kenya’s education system. Most countries have 12 years of schooling, whereas in Kenya, especially in arid and semi-arid areas, the expected years of schooling are around 6.5. The only county in Kenya with the standard 12 years of expected years of schooling is Nairobi.

 

2.   Lack of Monetary Resources

The educational outcomes are very low in rural areas for the lower-income population. NER (net enrollment rates) are higher in pre-primary, primary, and secondary education for kids in the household of the top 20% of income distribution compared to the 20% of the bottom.

 

3.   Recent Challenges

From 2019 onwards, things have significantly disrupted Kenya’s education system. Seventeen million students and more than 320,000 teachers were negatively affected by the closure of 30,000 primary and secondary schools in 2020. The schools in Kenya started opening from October 2020 onwards on remote learning terms. However, due to the lack of technology and electricity in most areas, 50% of the students were left out.

 

4.    Economic Difficulties

In 2018, LinkedIn published an article about the Kenyan education system’s challenges. Even though this source is from 2018, the information in this article is still pertinent. Its content is based on keen observations by Kenya’s rural area citizens, Viewtone Achaga and Milridah Ominde.

According to them, the issue is the increase in dropouts due to high poverty levels and, once again, inequality across the country. Even though the enrollment rates have been higher in Kenya through the previous years, completion rates are still below the benchmark of 50%.

A low completion rate is directly linked to a high dropout rate. The dropout rate in Kenya is linked to unemployment, with more than half of Kenyans living below the poverty line. Most citizens of Kenya earn less than a dollar a day which is mainly spent on necessities like food, shelter, and health care. This can make expenditure on education a luxury that only a few Kenyans can afford.

 

Conclusion

In 2018, the literacy rate of Kenya was 81.54%, whereas the global literacy rate was around 86%. For 2019 and 2020, the enrollments in primary schools were almost  10.72 million and 10.17 million. The highest rate in terms of enrollment number for Kenyan students in primary education was in the year 2018.

Many girls in Kenya drop out of school because of domestic responsibilities, menstruation, and teen pregnancy. Gender disparity is also a major cause of the lack of stability in female education. WISER and Beads for Education are the two most popular organizations working on the academic side of woman empowerment in Kenya.

The regions of Kenya that are most educated are Nairobi County (89%), Kiambu County (88%), and Kirinyaga County (87%). Regional inequality is one of the most significant issues in Kenya’s education system.