Education needs new orientation to pull it from the doldrums in which it has sunk

Kenya’s education sector is at a critical point and requires radical change and judicious leadership to get it back on the rails.

After a period of remarkable success in terms of enrolment and expansion of facilities that started with free primary education in 2003 and subsidised secondary education in 2008, the sector has suffered a decline in recent years. This can be attributed to insufficient funding, poor planning, and ineffective leadership.

Performance indicators give mixed results. Whereas the sector has recorded exponential expansion in terms of the number of learners enrolling in schools and universities, it has suffered greatly in respect to resources and learning outputs.

Two variables give an indication of the decline. The first is enrolment. Although free primary and subsidised secondary education have seen more children enrolled in schools, not all of them go full cycle.

According to the 2015 Economic Survey, about 40 per cent of children enrolled in primary schools do not reach Standard Eight.

The second is performance in national examinations. Statistics from the Kenya National Examinations Council indicate that 50.39 per cent of those who sat the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education in 2013 and 2014 scored less than 250 marks out of the possible 500.

Of the candidates who sat the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education, 26 per cent scored grade D and below. Technically, they cannot join any trade.

The exponential expansion of universities has created a major challenge in higher education. Enrolment is high against minimal resources. Classes are large, courses duplicated, lecturers thrive on moonlighting, research and innovation are intermittent, and ultimately, learning quality is compromised.

Broadly, the challenges can be classified as financial, governance, administrative, strategic, institutional, and political. Financially, schools are hurting because of insufficient and unpredictable funding.

As enrolment at both primary and secondary school level increased, the number of teachers has remained at about the same level for a decade, meaning that the high workload has had an impact on education quality.

The expansion has not been matched with adequate resources. Funding to schools has declined. Although the government’s allocation for each child in primary and secondary school has increased, the challenge is the disbursement of the funds, which are given out piecemeal and late. Most public schools run on huge debts and are unable to provide teaching and learning resources.

Administratively, the gravest manifestation is teacher management and administration of national examinations. The Education Ministry and the Teachers Service Commission have been involved in intractable fights over salaries and administrative issues, leaving little energy for productive engagement.

Secondly, the administration of national examinations has become a subject of serious concern. Cheating has become rampant and threatens to undermine the credibility of the country’s certification and education.

Governance is manifested in the way learning institutions are managed. Corruption and bribery thrive. The schools are underfunded and the money available is never properly accounted for. Secondary school fee guidelines are largely ignored. Admission to Form One is riddled with claims of impropriety.

In terms of strategy, the ministry has developed several plans. However, they are hardly ever implemented. One of those implemented was the Kenya Education Sector Support Programme, which guided the FPE and FSE and the expansion of universities. However, other critical elements such as curriculum reform have not been undertaken in a long time.

Although legal reforms carried out in 2012 in line with the Constitution have provided a foundation for effective management of the education sector, they have also created some legal challenges that ought to be fixed.

What does all this mean? It indicates that education requires a new orientation. And this is where the new Education Cabinet secretary, Dr Fred Matiang’i comes in.

He needs to immerse himself in structural, administrative, and strategic reforms. In this endeavour, he should adopt a consultative approach and, unlike his predecessor, who was inclined to be divisive, Dr Matiang’i must reach out to all stakeholders and promote inclusivity.

Mr Aduda is a specialist on education matters. [email protected]