BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Kenya lies across the equator in the East African region. The Republic of Somalia and the Indian Ocean in the East and South-East, Ethiopia in the North, Sudan in the Northwest, Uganda and Lake Victoria in the West and Tanzania in the South border the country. The landscape rises from the sea level in the East to the peak of Mount Kenya, which is about 5,200 meters above sea level. It slopes westwards gently through the Great Rift Valley to the Lake Victoria Basin. The country covers an area of approximately 582,366 square kilometres, ranging from high potential land on the slopes of Mount Kenya, Mount Elgon and the Aberdares to the Savannah grasslands. Three quarters of the country lies in the arid and semi arid lands and wastelands in the North and North Eastern regions. The arid and semi arid regions experience dry spells, often leading to prolonged drought.

Kenya's population is currently estimated to be about 28 million (1998 census). The female population is over 51%, and over 50% of the country's population is composed of dependent youth less than 15 years of age, thus high dependency ratio which puts considerable pressure on social and welfare services. There is, for instance, high demand for education and training to which the available resources cannot adequately respond.

However, since 1990, there has been evidence of declining annual population growth from 3. 8 % to 3 .4 %.

The majority of Kenya's population live in the rural areas but there is an upsurge in the urban population, the result of rural-urban migration, especially by school leavers who come to the cities to look for employment opportunities. Currently the population of the capital city of Nairobi is estimated to be over 2 million while Mombasa, the main seaport has over 1 million inhabitants. Again the negative implication of this development to the adequate provision of social services, including education, cannot be overstated.

The geographical and climatic variations cited above have significant influence on the socio-economic activities of the people in different parts of the country. In the high potential regions people are able to engage in productive agricultural and commercial activities. In the arid and semi-arid lands, however, the major economic preoccupation is nomadic pastoralism, which has very little returns. The backbone of Kenya's economy is agriculture, which produces both for domestic consumption and export. The major export crops are tea and coffee, while horticultural products are gaining ground. Tourism has taken the second position to agriculture in foreign exchange earning. The industrial sector has been picking up slowly and is expected to benefit from recent policy changes aimed at promoting the entire national economy.

There have been recent policy changes in the context of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAPs) aimed at revitalizing the economy in the long-term. However, in the short-term the effect of these changes has been the reduction of public expenditure on basic needs services through the institution of cost sharing in such services as health and education. Thus the new changes have accentuated the plight of the poor who form 46 % of the rural population of Kenya. This has had adverse effect on the educational participation by children from poor families, especially in the arid and semi-arid areas, and in the urban slums.

Kenya’s education system is based on an 8:4:4 structure which provides 8 years in primary education, 4 years of secondary and a minimum of 4 years of university education. Such professional university courses like medicine and architecture take longer than four years. The formal education system is the most widespread in the country, both in terms of resources devoted to it and the proportion of Kenyans involved.

The current enrolment in the entire formal education programmes is over 6 million, which is about a quarter of the total population.

The primary school is the first level of formal education in Kenya. However, for some children, mainly those in the large urban centres, the primary schooling is preceded by pre-primary education, which though not compulsory, serves as a useful preparatory stage to children from 3 to 5 years. Primary education starts at six years of age and at the end of the eight years of schooling the children sit for the highly competitive national Kenya

Certificate of Primary Education examination (KCPE). Secondary education constitutes a consolidation and transition between primary education and higher education and training, and world of work. The four years of secondary education are an important stage of physical, intellectual and psychological development when the youth mature into readiness for adult roles. At the end of the four years the students sit for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education and proceed to the university.

University education is the apex of Kenya's formal education and training. Apart from preparing high-level manpower for national development, the universities are also charged with undertaking research, development, storage and dissemination of knowledge. Other than the universities, post-secondary education and training is also provided by middle colleges such as the national polytechnics, teacher training colleges, institutes of technology and the more specialized institutions run by some technical ministries. There are four national polytechnics, which offer certificate, diploma and higher diploma courses in various fields of technical training. Among the middle level colleges there are 17 institutes of technology, which offer mainly diploma and certificate programmes. There are also 20 technical training institutes (TTIs), which also offer training in both craft and diploma level. These were formerly secondary technical schools before being upgraded to institute level in 1986 with the advent of the 8:4:4 system of education.

Several government departments through extension services and the literacy programme provide non-formal education for adults. Notable among the government agencies are the Board of Adult Education and the Department of Adult Education in the Ministry of Culture and Social Services which co-ordinate non-formal education activities. There are also non-governmental agencies, which collaborate with the government agencies in the provision of non-formal education. Their educational programmes are aimed at enhancing the participation of target communities in projects for the income generating activities, among others.

Education is seen as a fundamental right to every Kenyan and therefore there is a major concern to provide education on the basis of political equality, national unity, social justice and human dignity, equal opportunity for all citizens, irrespective of race, sex

religion, or colour, equitable distribution of national income and promotion and preservation of the cultural heritage. On the basis of this the general goal is seen as to prepare and equip citizens to function effectively in their environment and be useful members of the society. Education is therefore expected to foster national unity based on adaptation of the diverse cultural heritage of the people of the country, serve the needs of national development through production of skilled manpower, dissemination of knowledge and inculcation of the right attitudes and relating what is learned to the real problems of the society, preparing and equipping the youth with the knowledge, skills and expertise necessary to enable them play a useful role in national life by engaging in activities that enhance the quality of life, promote social justice and morality by instilling the right attitudes necessary for training in social obligations and responsibilities and finally to foster, develop and communicate the rich and varied cultures of the country and foster positive attitude and consciousness towards other nations.¹⁸⁵