Education for Development: Myth or Reality? The Kenyan Experience

Abstract

Education is seen as a powerful tool by which men and women are liberated from their natural state whether that described as ignorance, poverty, disease, selfishness, fear, corruption, injustice, enslavement, moral bankruptcy, or some other undesirable conditions and therefore freedom is the goal of education. Since attaining her political independence in 1963, Kenya has continued to invest heavily in education with the hope that this would help to transform the country into a modern progressive state. Kenya, fifty years after independence she is still bedeviled by corruption, bad governance, negative ethnicity and impunity. Although Kenyans have acquired literacy, academic knowledge and skills, education has not translated into the kind of thinking, mental attitudes and behaviour that is necessary for transforming society. This paper will explore the liberating and transforming power of education at the level of the individual and the society. It will then go on to demonstrate that only the right or intellectual learning at the expense of values and character education is responsible for our educational failure in Kenya.

A Comparative Study of Education Systems in Nigeria and Other Developing Countries

“…Students take tests to earn the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) at the conclusion of their eighth year. There are five subject areas for exams: English, Kiswahili, arithmetic, science, and agriculture, as well as social studies (Kessio et al, 2012).…”

Boy-Child Participation and Retention in Public Secondary Schools: The Role of Socio-Economic Factors with Examples from Baringo County, Kenya

“…Children from poor households drop out before completion [24] since many families cannot afford rising costs of education [25]. Changach [23] observes that poverty greatly affects transition rates from one level to another. In the same vein, Gathiga [26] notes that students drop out due to poverty, lack of basic needs, insecurity and catastrophes such as drought and famine.…”

“…Wastage through drop out undermines education goals set right from independence to Vision 2030 targets and MDG's targets [22]. Changach [23] attributes low participation rates of boys to socio-economic factors that prevent poor students from transiting to next levels of education. An online article entitled 'The African boy' an endangered species' argues that whereas society is fast to rescue the girl child, it is now slow to act on the boy child.…”