Education in least developed countries

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We know a lot about education system in USA and UK, we are comparing it with polish one, looking for similarities, discussing about which is better or what should be change.

But did we know anything about education in least developed countries?

How it looks in Africa? What level of education is there, how many children attend school?

Lets check it, following education system in Kenya.

Education in Kenya has been based on an 8-4-4 system since the late 1980s, with eight years of primary education followed by four years of secondary school and four years of college or university. In addition to this there is a large private school sector, which caters for the middle to upper classes and generally follow the British O-level and A-level system after primary school.

Out of all children in Kenya about 85 percent of children attend primary school, 24 percent of children attend secondary school, and 2 percent attend higher institutions.

• Primary education

There are three categories of primary school: Day Primaries, which make up the majority of schools; Boarding schools, divided into low, medium and high cost; and Arid Zone primary schools.

Primary education in government schools became free and compulsory in January, 2003.
Kenya is home to Kimaini Margue, the world's oldest person to start primary school. An illiterate farmer, he enrolled at age 84 when he learned that schooling had become free.

• Secondary education

Students in Kenya's major secondary schools (high schools) take four years to prepare for college. Most students start to shape their future in pursuing subjects that will take them to their careers. Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education are undertaken at the end of secondary education. As of 2008, the government has introduced plans to offer free Secondary education to all.

There are three types of secondary school: private schools, government-aided schools and harambee schools. The government-aided schools are more selective and only one out of four children are accepted into one. Acceptance is based on a child’s score on the Kenya Certification of Primary Education (KCPE). Most of the government-aided schools are boarding schools.

• Middle level colleges

These are two or three year colleges that offer certificate,Diploma and Higher National Diploma qualifications.. These colleges offer Technical hands-on skills in various fields such as Engineering, Medical Sciences, education, computer Science etc. They include Teacher Training colleges (TTCs), Kenya Medical Training colleges(KMTC), Kenya Polytechnic, Mombasa Polytechnic, Eldoret polytechnic, Kenya institute of mass communication and many others. All these institutions are set up by various acts of parliament...

• Public Universities

The leading university is the University of Nairobi. Other state universities include Kenyatta University, Egerton University, Moi University.

How it starts...

In 1963 the Kenyan government promised free primary education to its people. This promise did not take effect until 2003. Citizens are expected to contribute to the education fund by paying fees, taxes, and labour services. After contributing, most parents did not have the money to pay for their children’s education and were subsequently locked out of the school system.

Teachers strike often due to irregular payment of their wages.The teachers were responsible for collecting fees payments from student, with their wages being held until all fees were collected. Many children were forced to drop out of school simply because they could not afford it. Teachers would often send children home during the final exams in order to pressure parents into paying the fees.

Now that education is free, attendance has increased and there is a shortage of teachers and classrooms with children not getting sufficient attention from teachers due to the overcrowding of classrooms. This isa result of both children attending that could not afford to before, and children being taken out of lower-tier private schools in order to take advantage of free education. This has created demand for low cost private school where parents that could afford to pay the fees can send children to learn in a better environment.

Some believe that a solution for the overcrowding in schools is to create more vocational training programs in order to creat alternative routes to employment.

Kenya introduced the current 8-4-4 system in 1985. This means that grades one through eight are in primary, grades nine through twelve are in secondary, and then graduates spend four years in university. The 8-4-4 system was created to help those students who do not plan to pursue higher education. It has helped reduce the drop out rates and help those that leave primary school find employment.

The growth of Kenya's education sector has exceeded expectations. After the first university was established in 1970, five others have been created. The demand for higher education has resulted in the formation of many private universities.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Kenya


As we can see it's similar to European but learning conditions are really bad, what you can see in this video :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex-EIQ7kUcM (copy address to bar in your internet viewer)