Kenya

This sounds like the U.S. Many families cannot afford to send their children to school, so they opt to keep them home. Good families can teach most children at home. With large enough families, children do fine with social skills.

UNESCO / Education
Kenya: Free Primary Education Having Negative Impact on Early Childhood Development


Children in Kenya/ ©ChildFund International
02/02/2006 -

Free Primary Education was introduced in Kenya in 2003, enabling 1.3 million poor children to obtain schooling for the first time. However, a UNESCO/OECD Early Childhood Policy Review Mission noted that the policy had a negative impact on early childhood development centres serving poor children.

The main reason for this phenomenon is that poor parents are now keeping their children at home until they reach the age of primary school. They refuse to pay for early childhood education on the grounds that this, like primary education, should also be free.

UNESCO has recently published a brief “Impact of Free Primary Education on Early Childhood Development in Kenya” that addresses this topic in detail and suggests policy options.Contact: Yoshie Kaga UNESCO Paris