The politics of education reforms in Kenya: Critical assessment of the education system from 1963-2020

David Kamar Imana

Journal of Community Positive Practices, 2020, issue 2, 11-30

Abstract: The study conducted a critical appraisal of the education system and reforms in Kenya as influenced by the regime of the day. There are various factors that influence educational development in any particular country, namely political, historical, geographical, technological, religious, and ideological factors. The political factor is seen as the steering wheel of education in Kenya during pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial periods. There is no doubt that educational policies on system reforms are significantly dependent on political and social conditions, which are no longer consistent with the current predominant economic reality. This has made it difficult to come up with better, reliable, and sustainable policies. The historical design was adopted in reviewing educational development under the leadership of the four presidents of Kenya. So far, the first and the second presidents remain known as the ones who have brought the most educational changes in the country. The new 2-6-6-3 education system emphasizes continuous assessment tests rather than the end of cycle tests and is more competencies-based than exam-based (as is the 8-4-4 system). The policy designers in the education sector should comprehend and embrace education policies since they are expected to give effective leadership and management practices in the development of education. Good education development can only be realized when a country tries to separate educational policies from national politics, clear stipulation of educational policies and their role in national development and a sound implementation of educational reforms. This article digs deeper into education policies and implementation in Kenya in an attempt to provide recommendations and suggestions to improve the educational sector.

Keywords: educational system; educational reform; Kenyan Government (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://jppc.ro/index.php/jppc/article/download/369/324 First version, 2020 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cta:jcppxx:2202

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of Community Positive Practices from Catalactica NGO
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Ene Mihai ( this e-mail address is bad, please contact ).