Abstract: In January 6th 2003, Kenyan children started the day with new vigour and hope. Primary education was free and all that was required was for every child regardless of age to walk to school next to where they lived. The introduction of the Free Primary Education policy soon resulted to a high influx of new pupils into public schools, putting pressure on existing resources. In 2010, the government implemented a new formula for disbursement of FPE funds for instructional materials. Under this new formula, schools which had fewer textbooks per pupil were to receive greater amounts of money than those that had more textbooks. This paper sought to critically examine how financing of primary education by the Kenyan government has enhanced equity and quality in all Kenyan public primary schools. Though the abolition of school levies has led to increase in numbers of students attending primary school, with it has come many challenges among them the challenge of equity and quality. The issue of quality education has become a great concern to stakeholders and the question of whether all school-age children are in school is still nagging since there is evidence of disparities in access based on gender, language, disability, special groups and region. This paper adopted a desktop review of published works on Free Primary Education in Kenya. While a lot has been written on Free Primary Education, recommendations of this paper should inform Free Primary Education policy makers and guide its implementers.
Keywords: Financing education, Free Primary Education, equity, quality.
Title: Financing education for equity and quality: A review of Kenya’s free primary education policy
Author: Sr. Madeleine Sophie Barat Achieng, Prof. Jane Opiri
International Journal of Management and Commerce Innovations
ISSN 2348-7585 (Online)
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