Main Barriers to Education
- Poverty
- Insecurity
- Nomadic populations
- Gender discrimination
Interventions to Barriers
- Community engagement
- School rehabilitation & construction
- Teacher training & support
- Mobile schools & WASH facilities
In the aftermath of the 2007 post-election crisis, Kenya’s government introduced a new constitution, which necessitated various education initiatives. Chief among which was the Task Force on the Re-alignment of the Education Sector to the Constitution mandated to investigate education management, structure, policy and curriculum. Moreover, in 2013 the Basic Education Act was passed to operationalise the regulatory adjustments made necessary by the new constitution; redefine basic education to include primary and secondary levels; and oblige the government to provide free basic and compulsory education.
Though the government has taken positive steps regarding education sector reform, an array of challenges abound, inhibiting access and quality. In particular, Kenya has formidable pockets of poverty in rural and urban settings, which give rise to child labour. Also, oftentimes children living with HIV, disabilities and special needs, as well as girls and adolescent mothers, face discrimination.
In the face of these challenges, EAC has locked arms with the Girl Child Network, UNICEF and UNHCR to break down the aforementioned barriers to education. Through respective projects, EAC and its partners will increase community engagement to support girls’ education and advocate for corresponding public policies; improve school infrastructure through construction and rehabilitation, including the addition of WASH facilities; and ensure safe-learning environments and enhanced data analysis to promote better learning outcomes.
Geographic Location: East Africa
Languages: English (official), Kiswahili (official), numerous indigenous languages
Projects
Educate A Child Partnership
Educate A Child (EAC) has partnered with UNHCR to bring quality primary education to refugee children in 12 priority countries.
Enabling, Encouraging & Excelling
As the global refugee protection agency, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is responsible for ensuring that refugee children have access to quality education in their countries of asylum. There are over 2.7 million refugee children out of school in 12 targeted project countries.
Expansion of Operation-Come-To-School, Kenya
EAC and UNICEF have been working together to increase access to quality primary education to some of Kenya’s most disadvantaged out of school children (OOSC) since 2015. By tackling poverty, lacking school infrastructure and challenging geography, amongst other barriers, EAC and UNICEF are now collaborating to reach an additional 250,000 OOSC across the country.
OOSC under UNHCR’s Mandate are Provided Access to Quality Equitable Primary Education
Since its inception in 2012, EAC and UNHCR have been working together in countries across the globe to increase access to quality primary education for some of the most disadvantaged out of school children. At the moment, the joint Mandate Project is active in 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East seeking to enrol an additional 364,857 children.
Operation Come to School in Kenya
Project Operation Come to School Kenya will be implemented in eight counties and one coastal island. This will result in 300,000 OOSC enrolled along with 50 schools rehabilitated and equipped with improved teaching and learning materials.
Our Right Learn - Reaching the Unreached
EAC and Girl Child Network (GCN) have been partnering to increase access to quality primary children to some of Kenya’s most vulnerable out of school children (OOSC) since 2012. Previously focussed on marginalised, arid, and semi-arid regions of the country, EAC and GCN are now collaborating to reach 47,515 OOSC, in Kenya’s Garissa, Kajiadao and Kwale counties.
Our Right to Learn!
In Kenya, EAC and Girl Child Network (GCN) are working through the Our Right to Learn! project to ensure that children, especially girls, facing barriers to realising their right to education have the opportunity to access a full course of primary education.
Partners
Girl Child Network
EAC and Girl Child Network have partnered to provide 31,500 out of school children in marginalized, arid, and semi-arid regions of Kenya with quality basic education.
UNHCR
EAC partnership with UNHCR will ensure quality education for over 448,000 refugee children. UNHCR and EAC’s shared commitment to children in the most extreme circumstances help to ensure that all children in crisis situations have the opportunity to gain from the benefits of basic education.
