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Kenya: Change in Education System Central to Better Society
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The Nation (Nairobi)
OPINION
13 May 2008
Posted to the web 13 May 2008
Agnes P. Zani
Nairobi
THE FOCUS OF THE KENYA NAtional Dialogue and Reconciliation process, which came about as a result of the unrest following the December 2007 elections, has now turned to Agenda Item Four, which gives Kenyans a chance to address reforms on constitutional, institutional and legal systems that may help Kenyans avoid the pitfalls it has faced so far.
One of the key institutions in need of such reforms is the education system, especially in terms of how it has contributed to existence and persistence of social inequalities in educational participation and achievement. Existing disparities according to gender, regions, ethnicity, and social background continue to ensure that Inequality of Educational Opportunity persists.
THROUGH ENROLMENT AND SELECtion patterns, regional imbalances, school fees structures and facilities in various schools, participation in education ends up being influenced by the social and economic wellbeing of families. Some regions have also had a better share of schools, facilities and trained teachers.
Educational participation and achievement at higher levels, tends to be influenced by such social background factors. Yet, selection systems based on any criteria, other than an individual's ability, foster inequality.
The importance of analysing the dependence of educational participation and achievement on social background factors lies in the reasoning that the life chances of individuals should not be determined by conditions to which they were born, that is, ascribed status, but rather on their achieved status. Factors such as ability and merit should be the driving force for educational participation and achievement.
This is in line with the social efficiency argument that when individuals from lower social strata are hindered to attend higher educational levels, there is an under-utilisation and waste of aggregate human talent. Selection by ascribed characteristics is increasingly regarded not only as inefficient, but unjust and there is need for State intervention to promote equality of educational opportunity.
One of the approaches applied whilst developing educational systems in Kenya is that expansion is an excellent device for wider diffusion of opportunities and economic well being, and thus it is expected to lower schooling inequalities.
Such modernisation theorising suggests that the influence of ascribed family characteristics, such as ethnicity or social class, will decline over time since with increasing modernisation and expansion, educational selection becomes more meritocratic and hence Inequality of Educational Opportunity, as measured by its dependence on socioeconomic and socio-cultural features, should decrease.
It is expected that social background effects on educational participation and achievement will decline with development.
In absolute terms, such modernisation effects in the educational sector have been actualised. Overall, there has been an increase of students from diverse social backgrounds into the educational sector at all levels. Moreover such inclusion has been more pronounced in the primary sector where there is more competition for scarce resources.
The gender gap, for example, in primary education is nearly closed but wider at secondary and tertiary levels. The same scenario is played out with regard to the other social background factors as well. The gap between privileged and less privileged students is wider in secondary as compared to primary levels.
SUCH A SCENARIO ENTAILS PUTTING in place reforms that specifically address how to reduce such relative inequalities in participation and attainment at all educational levels. Measures such as affirmative action re-addressing gender imbalances and bursaries are already being implemented. More still needs to be done.
The schooling choices available also need to be assessed in terms of their merits and demerits, all with the aim of reducing these inequalities. The issue of social based educational inequities entails targeting vulnerable and marginalised groups and ensuring their increased participation in schooling.
Addressing these inequalities is of paramount importance in bringing integration, cohesion and sustainable peace among Kenyans.
The central political issue is that of promoting geographical and social equality by reducing the regional and social disparities in access to education.
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Dr Zani is a lecturer at the University of Nairobi.
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