The impact of free primary education on academic performance in selected primary schools in Kitengela Zone in Kajiado: District Kenya
Loading...
Date
2009-08
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kampala International University, College of Education, Open and Distance Learning
Abstract
The implementation of Free Primary Education in Kenya (FPE), which appears to be focused
on the access goal, faces many challenges including large pupil teacher ratios, shortage of
infrastructure, lack of standards of academic achievement and limited monitoring and
evaluation of teaching-learning processes. There are no sound policies in place to address
these challenges, which are a threat to the quality of education. Even after developing a sector
wise approach to manage education, indicators show that quality of primary education is still
poor. Unless urgent measures are taken to address these challenges, the quality of education
is bound to degenerate, thus jeopardizing the country's development goals. Following the
UNESCO framework of analyzing quality in education, this study analyses Kenya's primary
education, and upon reviewing relevant literature on international practices of providing
quality education, some lessons for Kenya are drawn. The study points out the importance of
focusing on all factors affecting education quality namely: learner characteristics, an enabling
context, enabling inputs such as teaching methods, class size, assessment methods, teaching
and learning materials, physical infrastructures and facilities, school governance and human
resource. Countries that have focused on educational outcomes and paid attention to these
factors have seen quality of their primary education systems improve. Considering that the
literature suggests that the teaching and learning environments at the school level can be
improved with scarce resources, the study recommends that the government could exploit the
existing resources. To enhance the quality of primary education in Kenya, the study
recommends a review of the teacher training programme, establishment and monitoring of
academic performance standards and deployment of voluntary teachers on terms less than
those on permanent employment.
Description
A research report submitted to the Institute Of Open And Distance Learning in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Award of a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood and Primary Education of Kampala International University
Keywords
Academic, Performance, Primary, Education