Challenges Faced in Implementing Free Primary Education for Pastoralists in Kenya

Abstract

Governments in Sub-Saharan Africa allocate between 5% and 25% of public expenditure budgets to education ministries, because education is seen, correctly, as a major contributor to human welfare, social and economic development (World Bank, 2005). It is clear that these large expenditures are sub-optimal and provide less than the expected return. This situation has been felt more acutely with the introduction of free primary education (FPE). Despite the high enrolment in FPE in urban areas, the response from pastoral communities has been rather lukewarm.The general objective of the study was to investigate the challenges faced in implementing Free Primary Education policy among pastoralists in Kenya. Consequently, the rationale of this study lies in need to evaluate the impact of an educational policy and find out how its implementation responds to challenges in provision of access to Primary Schooling. The study adopted ethnographic research design that utilised purposive sampling technique and saturation procedure to select a total of 170 respondents that included head teachers, teachers, parents, school dropouts, educational managers, community leaders, and Non Governmental Organizations. Purposive sampling was used to select individuals, groups and organizations that would provide insight into the study. Data was collected using focus group interviews, structured and unstructured interviews, observation, and document analysis. Subsequently, data was collected by use of questionnaire that was sent to head-teachers and education officials and was used only to validate the qualitative data. The collected data was coded, analyzed, described and summarized in order to generate themes on educational policy and practice. The study identified various challenges such as: inadequate funding; poor infrastructure; limited awareness towards education; limited community support; insecurity and cattle rustling and lifestyle of pastoralists that impedes the government’s efforts to attain FPE. These challenges threatened the implementation of FPE for pastoralists and further illustrate the complex and messy process of policy implementation in education sector. Key words: free primary education (FPE), policy implementation, pastoral communities, challenges.

Challenges facing the implementation of fee-free education in primary schools in Tanzania

“…Uusiku [ 27 ] found that UPE funds were allocated to schools too late with an absence of a proper evaluation and monitoring system to enable them to track the progress of the UPE policy implementation process. Serem and Ronoh [ 49 ] in Kenya also reported that inadequate funds to manage school activities hindered the headteachers in managing the implementation of FFE. As such, running the schools under FFE has resulted in a financial burden as some of the headteachers in the visited schools used their own income to support some of the school activities.…”

Teachers’ Attitude on Implementing the Free Basic Education in Kiteto District Council, Tanzania

“…Parents in many schools had stopped paying for meals as a result of the fee-free policy's implementation because they thought the government now covered the cost of providing these products. Additionally, Serem and Ronoh (2012) proposed a few ways that parents could participate in the implementation of the free education policy, including by initiating and carrying out small school projects, selling cattle to fund educational projects, and making the necessary contributions to cover costs that government grants are unable to cover.…”