Research Unit: Human Development

Urbanization and Education in East Africa

Why has Africa not developed as fast as East Asian countries, as should have been the case? Paul Collier has asked this question in several ways (see e.g. Collier, 2006). The evidence points to the fact that although Africa is endowed naturally and has the potential to experience rapid development, among the many factors, including mal-governance, educational expansion has lagged behind (Green et al., 1997). Even after the declaration of education access as one of the MDGs and the earlier crystallization of the targets through the EFA frameworks, average participation in SSA is still below the world trend 1999-2009 (UNESCO-UIS, 2011). Still, within the East African region education has been at the forefront of development vision in all the countries with Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania having declared and implemented universal education policies enjoined with their development visions. Burundi and Rwanda have followed suit albeit with emphasis on science and technology, particularly in Rwanda. Even before independence, the value of education to human well-being in the region was long recognized (Sheffield, 1973). […]

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Quality and Access to Education in Urban Informal Settlements

African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) had from 2005 to 2010, conducted a longitudinal survey in two formal settlements (Harambee and Jericho) and two informal (slum) settlements (Korogocho and Viwandani) in Nairobi to understand the uptake and patterns of school enrolment after the introduction of the Free Primary Education (FPE) in Kenya. The results of the study showed increased utilization of private informal schools among slum households as compared to the formal settlements. […]

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The Impact of Skills Development on Competitiveness: Empirical Evidence From a Cross-Country Analysis

In the past half-century, most countries have emphasized the development of human capital as an instrument for economic growth, sustainable development, and improved global competitiveness. However, limited evidence exists on the link between skills development and a country’s competitiveness. This paper examines the contribution and association of skills to a country’s competitiveness. The study uses panel data from 84 countries in estimating an empirical model. Skills availability, foreign direct investments, secondary education, and technical (engineering) education and training are significant contributors to a country’s competitiveness in a technologically changing and demanding world. This dynamic requires institutionalizing high-level technical skills development and on-the-job training programs in various firms that provided company specific and general skills to employees. The study recommends increased participation in secondary education and technically oriented courses in tertiary education and programs that encourage skills transfer from foreign companies. Foreign direct investment, however, requires a conducive investment environment. Increased collaboration between tertiary institutions and industry is crucial for improved skilled development. […]

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Research Evidence Matters: Contributions of APHRC’s Research to Education Policy Analysis in Kenya and Uganda

Research evidence has shown that education is one of the key interventions when it comes to addressing poverty and health issues, including maternal and child health; fertility, as well as individual wellbeing and life chances (UNESCO GMR, 2010; McMahon & Oketch, 2010). For sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the key education policy concern remains the lack of universal access to basic education of an acceptable quality (Ngware et al., 2011; Lewin 2008; Oketch & Sommerset, 2010a). It is well known that the Dakar 2000 conference galvanized governments in the region to declare priority in education as set in the Education For All (EFA) framework and as part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Tremendous achievement has indeed been realized, with net enrollment rising from around 60 percent in 1999 to 75 percent in 2009 (UNESCO-UIS, 2011). Expenditure in education has been sustained in some countries, accounting on average for 2.3 percent of GDP, the largest share of GDP allocation compared to other regions of the world (Oketch et al., 2012a). Thanks to competitive politics, the idea of universal access to basic education has remained alive in the political circuits and campaigns since around 1991. Implementation strategies have varied, with some countries taking a gradual approach of easing off the fees for a block of grades at a time, while others have applied a blanket ban on all fees for all grades simultaneously (Innoue & Oketch 2008; Deninger, 2003; Oketch & Rolleston 2007). […]

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Moving From Evidence to Policy and Action: Can Teacher Quality Help Improve Learning Outcomes in Kenya?

Creating a school system that provides quality education requires more than expanding enrollments but also thinking about the eventual learning outcomes. Many developing countries have had commendable successes in improving access to schooling after they implemented universal basic education programs as part of the Millennium Development Goals and Education For All efforts. In Kenya, for example, enrollment increased by 20% between 2002 and 20102. In spite of this success, there is a global consensus that while enrollments have continued to surge, quality of education has plummeted. One reason for this is the poor quality of teaching. It is critical to know how well teachers understand the subject matter they teach and how they teach it because this has an effect on how and what children learn in school. […]

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The Irony of Poor Urban Children Left Out From Free Schooling June

The UN-Habitat estimates that 60 to 70 per cent of Nairobi’s population resides in the slums – the first stop for young people coming to the city in search of a brighter future. Population growth estimates show that in Sub-Saharan Africa, Kenya included, slightly more than half of the population will reside in an urban context by the year 2050. What does this mean for the education of children and youth who form the bulk of the urban population? […]

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East Africa Quality in Early Learning (EAQEL): Impact Evaluation Report

This is an impact assessment report of an independent evaluation of the Aga Khan Foundation‘s (AKF) East African Quality in Early Learning (EAQEL) initiative to determine whether the initiative improves learning outcomes in the early grades (1-3) in two districts in Kenya and two districts in Uganda as was intended. The districts covered by the study are Kwale and Kinango in Kenya and Amolatar and Dokolo in Uganda. The four districts were selected by AKF because they consistently performed poorly in national examinations in both countries. […]

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Association Between Mothers’ Education and Grade Six Children Numeracy and Literacy in Kenya

The objective of the paper is to re-examine the mother–child education achievement hypothesis, by re-examining the effect of mother’s education, on math and literacy test scores of children in Kenya. Data come from the classroom Education Research Programme at the African Population and Health Research Center which was collected between January and March 2012. Since pupils are nested within schools, we fitted a two-level random intercept model. Our findings show that mothers’ and fathers’ education has a positive and significant independent association with literacy and numeracy achievement. After interacting mothers’ and fathers’ education and controlling for school and pupil characteristics, we observed two significant findings: (1) mother’s education remains statistically significant but is negatively associated with the pupil’s score in both literacy and numeracy; and (2) the interaction of both parents’ education is significant and positively associated with pupil scores in literacy and numeracy. This study underscores the importance of the complementarity between mothers’ and fathers’ education in order for children to acquire and learn literacy and numeracy in schools. In as much as mothers’ education is important in the children’s literacy and numeracy, the importance of fathers in children’s literacy and numeracy cannot be ignored. […]

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Community Participation and After-School Support to Improve Learning Outcomes and Transition to Secondary School Among Disadvantaged Girls: A Pilot Study in Informal Urban Settlements in Nairobi, Kenya (Midterm Report, November 2014)

The overall goal of this study is to improve learning outcomes and transition to secondary school through community participation and after-school support among disadvantaged girls in urban informal settlements of Nairobi. The improving learning outcomes and transition to secondary school study is a three-year intervention study which started in 2013 and ends in 2015. The study is being implemented in two informal urban settlement of Nairobi, Kenya called Korogocho and Viwandani, by CSOs/NGOs Miss Korogocho and U-Tena respectively. The evaluation is being conducted by APHRC. The baseline survey was conducted in June 2013, and the intervention started in July of the same year. This is to be achieved through increasing access and transition to quality secondary education among girls living in the urban informal settlements, and through parental and community support. The expected outcomes of the study are increased attendance, improved learning outcomes, and transition to secondary schools for girls in grades 6, seven and eight from poor households.

Between the baseline and midterm evaluations, girls in grades seven and eight were exposed to 12 months of after-school support and mentoring, while their parents were exposed to guidance and counseling over the same period. The midterm evaluation was conducted with the aim of enumerating the short term outcomes of the study during the year, specifically, the progress of the intervention, and achievements. The results of the midterm evaluation will inform the processes of the intervention in the third year of implementation. The midterm evaluation study sought to answer the following questions: 1) does the after-school learning support and mentoring lead to improved learning outcomes; 2) does the promise of subsidizing the cost of secondary first grade entry increase the transition of girls to secondary schools; and 3) how does increased awareness about the challenges of girl’s education in the community by parents and community leaders lead to increased support for and improved learning outcomes among girls. […]

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Beyond the Classroom: Integrating Family and Community Into Life Skills Education for Young People

Education is supposed to equip young people with knowledge, skills and critical thinking abilities which will serve them throughout their lives within society. This view of education means that it should go beyond academic achievement and instead contribute to the development of well-rounded individuals who can actively participate in their communities.

Life skills help people to manage themselves throughout the course of their lives and make appropriate choices for an active, safe and productive life. They help the individual develop the flexibility to adjust to different life circumstances and strengthen their ability to develop solutions in the face of challenges. […]

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Impact Evaluation of a School Readiness Intervention Among Pre-Primary School Learners in Kenya: Tayari Wave 3 Report*

This report summarizes baseline fndings for the third wave (Wave Three) of an external evaluation of the Tayari pre-primary school pilot program. The Tayari pre-primary school pilot program aims to prepare children for primary school. Participation in early childhood development and education (ECDE) programs is associated with better schooling adjustment and higher levels of academic achievement. […]

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