GRASSROOTS FIX

Kenya has committed KSh784.5 billion to education in the 2026/27 financial year, reaffirming the sector's position as the country's largest public investment. The allocation underscores the government's commitment to improving access to quality education and equipping learners with the skills needed to drive the country's economic and social transformation. Yet as the country celebrates record investment in the sector, recent national and international assessments point to a persistent challenge that money alone cannot solve: too many Kenyan children are still struggling with mathematics. The International Common Assessment of Numeracy (ICAN) 2025 found that 62 per cent of Kenyan children aged between five and 16 years met the minimum mathematics proficiency level, placing Kenya second among the 11 participating countries, behind only Mexico. However, the findings also reveal that 38 per cent of children did not attain the minimum proficiency benchmark, mean...

The release of UNESCO's latest Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report should be welcomed as a milestone for education in Africa. After decades of investment, policy reforms and advocacy, the continent achieved gender parity in primary school enrolment in 2021 and is edging closer to parity in lower secondary education. Yet the report also reminds us that progress is far from complete. In 2024, Africa still had only 93 girls enrolled in upper secondary school for every 100 boys. That is an achievement worth celebrating. But celebration should never become complacency. The danger with the language of "gender parity" is that it can create the illusion that the education challenge has largely been solved. Numbers can tell us how many children enter school, but they cannot tell us whether education systems are fair, whether learners acquire meaningful skills, or whether the most vulnerable children are receiving the support they need. Kenya illustrates this contr...

Every morning, as the school bell cuts through the cool air of Transmara South, hundreds of students file into classrooms carrying books, assignments and dreams of a better future. Yet, for many teenage mothers, the journey back to school ends long before they reach the classroom door. The common assumption is that motherhood itself forces girls out of school permanently. But emerging evidence suggests a more painful reality: what keeps most of them away is not the baby they carry in their arms, but the shame society places on their shoulders. Data presented by Usawa Agenda during the webinar, "Data to Dialogue: Unpacking the Usawa Agenda 2026 Report Confirmation," paints a sobering picture of the struggles teenage mothers face in reclaiming their education. According to the findings, 45.2 per cent of girls who fail to return to school after pregnancy cite stigma as the biggest obstacle. The figure is higher than any other barrier identified. It means that nearly ...

The revelation that Kenya's Ministry of Education faces a KSh102 billion funding gap ahead of the 2026/27 budget should alarm every Kenyan. Education is not merely another government department competing for resources; it is the foundation upon which the country's future rests. Yet once again, the sector finds itself pleading for funds to sustain basic services that should have been guaranteed and protected. The numbers tell a troubling story. The Ministry requested KSh770 billion but was allocated KSh668.3 billion, leaving a deficit large enough to threaten free primary education, junior secondary education, school feeding programmes, and capitation support for millions of learners. Government officials have warned that more than 1.5 million learners could miss capitation support if the gap is not addressed. What is most disturbing is that this crisis did not emerge overnight. Education funding deficits have been repeatedly reported over the past several years. Ear...

In Transmara South, learning is supposed to be a ladder out of poverty. Instead, for many schoolgirls, it has become a daily struggle marked by shame, silence and impossible choices. In classrooms scattered across Chelchel and Olesoilal primary schools, basic menstrual hygiene needs remain unmet; a challenge that teachers say is quietly pushing some girls out of education altogether. At Chelchel and Olesoilal, teenage girls are walking to class without underwear or sanitary towels. Teachers describe the situation as persistent and worsening during certain times of the month, with absenteeism rising and some learners eventually dropping out. The pain behind the statistics is visible in everyday school life. Inside crowded classrooms at Chelchel, some girls sit withdrawn, avoiding attention whenever menstruation is discussed. Teachers say the anxiety is not only about discomfort, but about stigma. The fear of being laughed at or exposed in front of classmates. “I feel so bad ...

When President William Ruto and Emmanuel Macron signed 11 bilateral agreements in Nairobi this week, the language was grand: innovation, digital transformation, skills development, artificial intelligence and youth empowerment.  Buried within the infrastructure announcements and billion-shilling investment promises was an education agenda Kenya’s policymakers will likely market as a breakthrough for the country’s young population. The two governments pledged deeper cooperation in STEM education, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence and skills development.  But beyond the diplomatic photographs and polished communiqués lies a harder question: who exactly benefits from these education partnerships? Kenya’s education sector is littered with memoranda of understanding that generated headlines but delivered little lasting change in overcrowded classrooms, underfunded TVET institutions or public universit...