Report exposes funding gaps, staff shortages and infrastructure failures in schools

A newly released report has painted a grim picture of Kenya’s education system, exposing major challenges in staffing, digital learning, school infrastructure and access to quality education across the country.

The findings show that despite policy efforts and rising enrolment in some areas, many learners and teachers continue to operate in under-resourced environments that limit progress and deepen inequality.

The State of Education in Kenya report, jointly developed by Zizi Afrique Foundation and Usawa Agenda, outlines key barriers, including a national teacher shortage of nearly 100,000, inadequate school infrastructure, and poor access to ICT and science resources.

The report further highlights gaps in education financing and uneven outcomes between rural and urban learners, and between regions.

In public schools, learners share toilets at a ratio that far exceeds the recommended national standards.

While the Ministry of Education advises one toilet for every 30 boys and 25 girls, the actual average is 66 boys and 62 girls per toilet. These sanitation challenges are widespread, affecting both public and private schools in urban and rural areas.

“In terms of infrastructure, we have basic Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) needs, and emerging needs arising from the new learning areas under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) curriculum that necessitate laboratories, technology access and digital literacy for both our learners and teachers,” said Dr John Mugo, CEO of Zizi Afrique Foundation.

In Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, government funding has led to a 35.7 per cent growth in institutions between 2018/19 and 2022/23.

Despite the increased allocation, Sh14.2 billion in the 2023/24 financial year, the sector still suffers from a shortage of 9,121 trainers, a lack of ICT tools and insufficient capitation and scholarships.

The report also reviewed Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE), which is managed by the counties.

Enrolment rose by 5 per cent between 2018 and 2021, and the number of ECDE centres increased from 46,623 to 47,666 between the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years.

However, the number of teachers declined from 92,359 in 2019 to 69,561 in 2022, raising concerns about quality.

“While the increase in early childhood development education is positive, the devolution of this function to the county governments means a lack of standardisation in the quality and access to early childhood education across the country.

Our research shows that children out of ECDE going age that are out of school in Mandera is 51.4 per cent and Marsabit 33.3 per cent, which is the lowest access, while Kisumu is 1.3 per cent and Nakuru is 1.8 per cent, the highest access,” said Dr Emmanuel Manyasa, Executive Director of Usawa Agenda.

An assessment of learning outcomes revealed that only 40 per cent of Grade 4 learners can read and understand a Grade 3 English story.

In the North Eastern region, only two in ten learners achieved this level of comprehension, compared to higher-performing urban areas. Learners in ASAL and rural areas consistently underperformed compared to those in non-ASAL and urban settings.

The report also evaluated how schools are adapting to the CBE curriculum, which now includes digital literacy and coding.

By the end of 2024, only 21 per cent of teachers in public junior schools had received training in STEM subjects, and 35 per cent of schools had no STEM teacher at all. Just 48 per cent of learners had access to laboratories. The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) responded in January 2025 by hiring more STEM teachers.

The report concludes by calling for stronger partnerships among communities, civil society, government, development agencies and the private sector to help improve access, quality and funding in the education sector.

It urges bold steps to address these gaps and ensure all learners benefit from meaningful and inclusive education.