Primary Math and Reading (PRIMR) Program: Kenya Education Policy Study Report

Abstract

The objective of this policy study, carried out under the USAID/Kenya Primary Math and Reading (PRIMR) Initiative, was to highlight important policy issues that would need to be addressed in developing and implementing a national programme to improve the teaching and learning of reading in the lower primary classes in Kenya. The government of Kenya has, over the years, allocated a proportionately large part of the national budget to education. As a result, and especially following the introduction of free primary education (FPE) in 2003, enrolment has risen tremendously. However, the same cannot be said about the quality of pupils’ learning. Multiple assessments of reading have reported poor reading achievement, including those carried out by the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) in 1998, Uwezo in 2010 and 2011, the National Assessment System for Monitoring Learning Achievement (N