The State of Education in Kenya Research Report, released Thursday, July 17, by Zizi Afrique Foundation and Usawa Agenda, shows that exclusion from ECDE is more pronounced in rural areas.
The report has revealed that 8.4 percent of children in rural areas join primary school without prior early learning experience, compared to 6.2 percent in urban areas.
The report also revealed that 7.4 percent of children in Kenya are enrolling in Grade 1 without having passed through Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE), highlighting persistent gaps in foundational learning access across the country.
With counties such as Mandera (51.4%) and Marsabit (33.3%) recording the highest levels of ECDE exclusion, while Kisumu (1.3%) and Nakuru (1.8%) had the lowest, pointing out at the regional disparities.
The study also noted that among children already in Grade 1 and above, 7.5 percent of boys and 7.4 percent of girls had never attended ECDE.
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Children with disabilities showed slightly lower attendance rates at 7.2 percent, compared to 7.4 percent among those without disabilities.
The report also pointed out that enrolment rose by nearly 5 percent between 2018 and 2021, alongside a rise in the number of ECDE centres from 46,623 in the 2022/23 financial year to 47,666 in 2023/24.
Of these, 32,461 are public institutions while 15,205 are private, says the study.
However, the sector faces challenges, notably a significant drop in the number of ECDE teachers, from 92,359 in 2019 to 69,561 in 2022.
The report attributed growth in ECDE enrolment nationally to policy reforms and increased investment in infrastructure.
By Brian Ndigo
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