East African Community (7–4–2–3 System)
In 1967, Kenya, with Uganda and Tanzania, formed the East African Community . The three countries adopted a single system of education, the 7–4–2–3, which consisted of 7 years of primary education, 4 years of secondary education, 2 years of high school and 3–5 years of university education. Under the system, which was similar to the British system of education, children began their elementary (primary) education at the age of 7 and completed at the age of 13 after sitting for a regional examination known as the East African Certificate of Primary Education (EACPE).
After primary education those who passed very well proceeded to secondary school which ended four years later with the writing of the East African Certificate of Education examination (EACE). The highest level of education that qualified one to attend university was attained after two years of high school at that time distinct from secondary school with students sitting for the East African Advanced Certificate of Education (EAACE).
Kenya 7–4–2–3 System
With the collapse of the East African community in 1977, Kenya continued with the same system of education but changed the examination names from their regional identity to a national identity. The East African Certificate of Primary Education became the Certificate of Primary Education (CPE), the first time the C.P.E was marked by a computer system, the East African Certificate of Education became the Kenya Certificate of Education (KCE) and the East African Advanced Certificate of Education became the Kenya Advanced Certificate of Education (KACE).
8–4–4 Curriculum
Main article: 8-4-4 Curriculum
In 1985 President Daniel arap Moi, introduced the 8–4–4 system of education, which adopted 8 years of primary education, 4 years of secondary education and 4 years of university education. With the introduction of the 8–4–4 system CPE became KCPE ( Kenya Certificate of Primary Education ) while KCE became the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
Since 1985, public education in Kenya has been based on an 8–4–4 system, [1][2] with eight years of primary education followed by four years of secondary school and four years of college or university. To date, there has been steady growth in the advancement of education in the country. the country boasts of a great number of public and private universities as well as middle-level colleges.
British Curriculum
Some private schools, however, offer a system of education similar to the British system of education with ordinary level exams, "O-levels" taken at the end of 4 years of secondary school and advanced levels "A-levels", taken after two years of high school.
Transition rates and Overall Performance
Out of all children in Kenya about 85 percent attend primary school. 75 percent of those who complete primary education proceed to secondary schools and 60 percent of those who complete secondary school proceed to higher institutions of education which include business and vocational institutions, national polytechnics, public and private universities within the country. Over 950,000 Kenyans have furthered their education abroad with a majority of graduates from India, UK, Canada, the United States, Russia and Uganda.
Education quality
Education quality has recently received a lot of attention in Kenya. The government's main document in this effort, the Kenya Education Sector Support Programme for 2005–2010, established the National Assessment Centre (NAC) to monitor learning achievement. In 2010, the NAC released the results of its first assessment.
In 2009, in collaboration with the NAC, Uwezo Kenya conducted an assessment of the basic literacy and numeracy skills of children ages 6–16. The Annual Learning Assessment (ALA) reached villages in 70 out of 158 districts in Kenya and assessed nearly 70,000 children in their homes. The ALA was set at a Standard 2 level, which is the level where students are supposed to achieve basic competency in reading English and Kiswahili and complete simple arithmetic problems. The chart below shows the percent of children who could not read a Standard 2 level paragraph or solve Standard 2