Washington — Approximately four million secondary school learners in Kenya will benefit from more equitable and inclusive education services under the new Secondary Education Equity and Quality Improvement Program (SEEQIP).
The $250 million World Bank-funded SEEQIP is a five-year program designed to expand equitable access to quality secondary education, improve teaching quality in Junior Schools, and strengthen systems for equitable service delivery in secondary education. SEEQIP will also focus on retention of vulnerable learners including refugee children, and improve learning outcomes in Junior Schools, specifically in science, mathematics, and languages, where learning outcomes are very low.
"Kenya's strong commitment to basic education, as evidenced by its policies and robust spending, has translated into important reforms and programs," said Qimiao Fan, World Bank Country Director for Kenya. "Despite notable progress in secondary education, wide disparities remain in access and learning outcomes. This investment will support Kenya to create a more equitable secondary education system."
SEEQIP interventions will improve learning conditions in target secondary schools, provide core text books and teachers' guides; support refugee camp-based Junior Schools; support learning for learners with special needs; train teachers especially for Integrated Science, Mathematics and Languages for Junior Schools; and institutionalize reforms in basic education such as the Competency-Based Curriculum and Competency-Based Assessment, education data management, student financing and scholarships administration.
"This program is anchored in the National Education Sector Strategic Plan II and the recommendations of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms," said Ruth Charo, Senior Education Specialist for the World Bank. "To facilitate a long-term structured engagement in basic education, the program builds on ongoing operations such as the Kenya Secondary Education Quality Improvement Project and the Kenya Primary Education Equity in Learning Program to advance effectiveness, promote inclusion, and provide reliable financing through a coordinated approach."
Spanning all 47 counties, SEEQIP will enhance access to quality education for over 1.94 million learners in public Junior Schools (JS), and over 15,000 learners in camp-based refugee Junior Schools. The program will improve learning conditions for over 3,000 schools, provide school meals to 2.1 million vulnerable learners (including refugees) and supply approximately 1.9 million textbooks for integrated science, mathematics, and languages to JS learners. It will also train over 78,000 teachers in public JS and 2,215 teachers/untrained teachers/volunteers in camp-based refugee schools.
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Of the program's $250 million, $200 million is an International Development Association (IDA) credit, and $50 million is a grant from the IDA Window for Host Communities and Refugees.
SEEQIP aligns with World Bank's Country Partnership Framework for Kenya (FY23-FY28) and the Africa Human Capital Plan, both of which seek to improve learning outcomes.
*The World Bank's International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world's poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people's lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world's 74 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Resources from IDA bring positive change to the 1.3 billion people who live in IDA countries. Since 1960, IDA has provided $458 billion to 114 countries. Annual commitments have averaged about $29 billion over the last three years (FY19-FY21), with about 70 percent going to Africa. Learn more online: IDA.worldbank.org. #IDAworks
