FACTORS AFFECTING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF UNIVERSAL PRIMARY

EDUCATION IN SEMI-ARID AREAS OF KENYA: THE CASE OF GARISSA

COUNTY
1
Salah M. Egueh & 2Dr. Agnes P. Zani
1
Post Graduate Researcher, University of Nairobi, Department of Sociology and Social Work.
2
Lecturer, University of Nairobi, Department of Sociology and Social Work.
Email: 1daganeh@hotmail.com , 2apzani@yahoo.com

Abstract

The high enrolment rate that followed the introduction of free primary education in
Kenya in 2003 brought insurmountable challenges which are yet to be resolved 10 years
later. Pupils in North Eastern Province not only face a shortage of schools, classrooms,
teachers, and learning materials common to most schools across the country, but have
also to contend with cultural and environmental challenges that slow the implementation
of free primary education in the province. This paper provides an overview of the current
status of primary education in Garissa County in North Eastern Province and examines
the factors hindering the implementation of Universal Primary Education (UPE) in the
county. The role of culture and religion in the implementation of UPE is explored. This
study is guided by human capital theory and capital theory of school effectiveness and
improvement. It uses survey research to collect quantitative and qualitative data from 90
respondents comprising head teachers, teachers, pupils, out of school children, parents,
district education officers, district officer and education sponsors. Stratified random
sampling and purposive sampling were employed to select schools and respondents. The
results indicated that lack of finance, family support, early marriages, drug abuse,
inadequate school facilities, nomadic life style, harsh climatic conditions, poor
infrastructure, cultural values like female genital mutilation and preference for boy child
education, high illiteracy level among parents, and distance to school are some of the
factors that hinder the implementation of UPE in the county.

Keywords: Universal Primary Education, Free Primary Education, Cultural Factors,

Environmental Factors, Religion, Garissa County

Introduction implementation of UPE in all the counties in this

The government of Kenya has since the
introduction of the free primary education (FPE)
in 2003 remained optimistic that it shall
implement Universal Primary Education (UPE)
by 2015 in fulfillment of the United Nations
Millennium Development Goal on education.
The prospect of achieving this objective is
however threatened by the cultures and the living
conditions of the people living in the arid and
semi-arid lands of northern Kenya. Though all
the data on the factors that may hinder the
ecological zone is yet to be aggregated, the
situation in Garissa County which forms the
basis of this paper, indicate that the country is far
behind schedule of achieving this objective.
When the FPE programme commenced
in Kenya ten years ago the responses in all parts
of the country were overwhelming and
enrollment of pupils rose from 6.0 million in
2002 to 7.2 million in 2003. The Gross
Enrollment Ratio (GER) went up from 88.2
percent in 2002 to 102.6 percent in 2003. On

61
average the Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) also
increased from 77.3 percent in 2002 to 92.5
percent in 2008. But the NER for North Eastern
Province was however only 25.5 percent out of
92.9 percent recorded nationally in 2009 (GOK
2009). And according to Kenya Integrated
Household Budget Survey of 2005/06 over a
third of the school aged population in North
Eastern Province never attended schools (KIHBS
2006).
Further the completion and transition
rates increased in all provinces with the
exception of Nairobi and North Eastern
provinces with the latter recording high dropout
rates in the period. The national primary
completion rate (PCR) increased from 62.8
percent in 2002 to 81.0 percent in 2007 but
decreased to 79.5 percent in 2008. Nairobi and
North Eastern Province registered the lowest
(PCR) of 55.4 percent and 36.5 percent
respectively (GOK and UNDP 2010). Thus 63.5
percent of those who enrolled in primary schools
in North Eastern Province dropped out from
schools before they completed their primary
education. The statistic is even more alarming
when we take gender into consideration because
only 22.5 percent of girls and 51.1 percent boys
completed primary education in North Eastern
Province compared to the national average of
79.5 percent (GOK and UNDP 2010). And this is
notwithstanding the fact that gender parity in
education in North Eastern Province stands at
0.51 meaning that there are only 51 girls for
every 100 boys enrolled in schools (Institute of
Economic Affairs 2008). In 2007 the primary
school-age children in North Eastern province
were 249,408 and this number is expected to go
up to 371,000 by 2015. Total primary school
enrolment is expected to rise from 101,684
pupils in 2007 to 211,742 by 2015 (GOK 2011).
From these statistics, 159,258 children are
expected to be out of schools by 2015 making it
impossible to achieve UPE by 2015.
Many internal and external factors have
negatively influenced the implementation of
UPE in North Eastern Province. Poverty and
62
child labour greatly contribute to low enrolment
and high dropout of pupils in the area. In 2007
the poverty incidence in the province stood at
73.9 percent and played a big role in keeping
children out of school (Republic of Kenya 2010).
A 2002 government report indicated that girls in
both rural and urban areas of the province
undertake household chores such as fetching
firewood and taking care of the sick while boys
engage in informal works such as donkey
driving, car wash, shoe shine and vending
instead of going to school. Similarly negative
attitude towards education, parental ignorance,
cultural, religious and traditional beliefs all
contribute to poor enrolment and retention of
pupils in schools (GOK 2009).
The periodic drought and lack of water
have not spared the implementation of UPE in
North Eastern Province. Every year many
primary school pupils leave schools and migrate
to the neighboring countries in search of water
and pasture for animals. In 2011 alone more
than 5480 pupils from Garissa County dropped
out of primary school to accompany their parents
to the neighboring countries in search of water
and pasture for their livestock while many others
moved to the urban areas and refugee camps in
Daadab after losing their animals (Province
Education Office 2011). Primary education in the
province is also hindered by lack of adequate
learning facilities like classrooms, desks, text
books and transport. Lack of teachers also
contributes to the withdrawal of many children
from schools in the rural areas. The pupils
teacher ratio (PTR) in North Eastern in 2007 was
62:1 which was higher than the national PTR
average of 43:1. The PTR for public primary
schools was 74:1 in Mandera, 61:1 in Ijara, 60:1
in Garissa and 53:1 in Wajir (GOK 2011).
And owing to insecurity the locations of
schools also play a role in determining the
number of girls who remain in school to the end.
Additionally the pupil toilet ratio (PTOR) is 64:1
for girls and 42:1 for boys compared to the
government guideline of 25:1 for girls and 30:1
for boys (GOK 2011). This creates a hostile
environment for pupils, further increasing the
dropout rates for girls. A study carried out by
Kenyan Integrated Household Budget Survey in
2005 confirms these statistics when it states that
58.1 percent of school going age children said
they were out of school because of the refusal by
their parents, 20 percent attributed it poor
conditions, 15 percent said they were busy
helping their families eke a living and a further
20 percent could not enroll because schools were
too far away (KIHBS 2005).
This study relied on human capital
theory and capital theory of school effectiveness
and improvement to investigate the factors
affecting the implementation of UPE in public
primary schools in Garissa County. Human
capital theory assumes that FPE is the tool for
poverty reduction and enhances the income
status of societies by improving the knowledge
and the talents of the people. The study
employed this theory because the profit of UPE
is not meant to benefit the recipient only but the
whole community since education is a tool for
poverty eradication and community
development. The capital theory of school
effectiveness and improvement was employed to
carry out an overview of the current status of
public primary schools in Garissa County and
evaluate their capacity to achieve UPE by 2015.
Table 1: Sample Size
Respondents
Pupils
Head teachers
Teachers
Community members
Out of school children
DEO and inspectors
63
The study specifically sought to provide
an overview of the current status of universal
primary education, examine factors hindering the
implementation of universal primary education,
and explore the role of and culture and religion
in the context of the implementation of universal
primary education in Garissa County.
Methodology
Purposive sampling was used to select
15 out of 78 public primary schools in Dujis and
Lagdera constituencies of Garissa County. The
target population comprised pupils, head
teachers, teachers, community members, out of
school children, government officers, and
education sponsors in the county. The study used
stratified sampling to select 30 pupils (1 male
and 1 female from each school) and 10 out of
school going age children. Purposive sampling
was also used to select 5 female and 10 male
teachers, 15 public primary school head teachers,
10 community members, 4 district education
officers and inspectors, 2 district officers and 4
respondents from the international organizations
that sponsor education in the area. The total unit
of observation was 90 respondents.
Number Percentage
30 33%
15 17%
15 17%
10 11%
10 11%
4 4.4%
 District officers 2 2.2%

Education sponsors 4 4.4%

Total 90 100%

Source: Research 2012

culture on implementation of FPE was also

Data Collection Methods
The study used both qualitative and
quantitative research approaches to collect data.
It employed both structured (close-ended) and
unstructured (open-ended) questions to gather
primary data on the status of the school physical
facilities and learning materials, enrollment,
dropout rate, completion and transition rates,
gender balance and external factors affecting the
implementation of universal primary education
in schools. The role played by religion and
investigated. Secondary data was obtained from
books, previous research, records from the
ministries of education and that of planning and
national development records, district education
offices, and international organizations.
Results and Discussion
A total of 78 out of the 90 administered
questionnaires were returned for analysis which
translated to 86.6 % return rate.

Table 2: Response Rate

Respondents Issued Returned

Pupils 30 29

Head teachers 15 10

Teachers 15 13

Community members 10 7

Out of school children 10 10

DEO and inspectors 4 3

District officers 2 2

Education sponsors 4 4

Total 90 78

Source: researcher (2012)

64
Demographic Characteristics of the
Respondents
Most pupil respondents were class 8
pupils from the rural areas. Ninety percent of
them were between 11-16 years and the rest 17
years and over. About 70% of the out of school
children were 16 years and above compared to
30% who were below. About 62% of the
teachers and all head teachers were over 31
years. Eighty percent of the community members
in the study were above 41 years and 57% of
them were males. Less than 15% of them did
not complete primary schooling. More than 85%
had between 4-9 children compared to less than
15% who had less than 4 children. All had 1-2
Table 3: Duration teachers had worked in Garissa County
boys, 82.7 percent had 1-2 girls and 14.3 percent
had 2-3 girls. About 86 percent of them had
taken advantage of free primary education and
had enrolled their children in school.
About 70% of the teachers had served
Garissa County for more than 6 years compared
to about 30% who had been there for less than 5
years. Similarly about 70% of the head teachers
had served in the same position in the county for
more than 6 years and were therefore
experienced enough to understand the
community and the status of the schools.

Frequency Percent

1-5 years 4 30.8

6-10 years 5 38.4

11 and above 4 30.8

Total 13 100.0

Source: Researcher (2012)

More than 66% informants had 1-5 years work experience, 11.1% had 6-10 years, and 22.2% had
worked for more than 11 years (table 4). Further, more than 77% informants had worked in Garissa County
for 1-5 years and 11.1% of them for 11 years and above. They were therefore in a good position to give the
researcher useful information about the status of the schools, the general environment and the attitude of
the community towards education.

Table 4: Duration informants had worked in Garissa County

Frequency Percent

1-5 years 7 77.8

6-10 years 1 11.1

11 and above 1 11.1

Total 9 100.0

Source: Researcher (2012)

65
Current Status of UPE in Garissa County
We asked the pupils and teachers to
state their feelings about the physical facilities in
their schools and more than 55% pupil
respondents and 93% teacher respondents (fig 1)
said they were moderate but added that there was
a shortage of classes and desks to cater for the
enrolled numbers. More than three quarters of
the teachers said schools in the county were
under equipped. Some 59% pupil respondents
said the schools were understaffed, and 83% of
them complained that their schools did not have
a library. More than 62% reported that 1-5 pupils
dropped out of class between 2011 and 2012
Figure 1: Status of schools as viewed by Teachers
compared to 38% who indicated that more than
five pupils dropped out of class in the same
period [fig.2]. About 70% of teacher respondents
said that the rate of pupil dropout was above
average.
Some 65.5% of pupil respondents
complained of poor sanitary conditions. Many
children, especially girls, were said to have
dropped out of school in Garissa County because
of the poor conditions of school toilets. In
addition, the shortage of toilets in schools was
found to interfere with the learning process as
pupils queued for long periods to use the few
available toilets.

School

100

80
percentage

60

40

20

0
Yes No

Source: Researcher 2012

Table 5: Enrollment rate after introduction of free primary education in 2003

Frequency Percent

Overwhelming 11 84.6

Moderate 2 15.4

Low 0 0.0

Total 13 100.0

Source: Researcher (2012)

66
 Figure 2: Number of pupils who dropped out of class

Number ofpupilswho dropped

70
60
50
40
percentage

30
20
10
0
1 to 5 pupils 5 to 10 pupils 10 and above
pupils

Source: Researcher (2012)

Table 6: Number of pupils per class

Frequency Percent

10-20 0 0.0

21-40 1 7.7

41 and 12 92.3
above

Total 13 100.0

Source: Researcher (2012)

way beyond the national average. All the

Some 92.3% teachers said that a typical class in
Garissa County has more than 41 pupils
compared to 7.7% who reported that their classes
contained 21-40 pupils [table 6]. About 70%
added that 3 pupils share one desk. These figures
indicate that the classes are overcrowded and
teachers who participated in this study agree that
the teacher - pupil ratio in the urban areas of the
county is between 1:60 and 1:70. As a result
84.6% of teacher respondents said they were
overwhelmed by the 2003 FPE enrolment
compared to 15.4% who described the enrolment
as moderate [table 5]. They all complained of

67
heavy workload and lack of sufficient time to
attend to individual pupils needs.
The school completion rate in North
Eastern province is far much below the national
average of 79.5 percent and stands at only 22.5
percent for girls and 51.1 percent for boys (GOK
and UNDP 2010). All the head teachers and
community members and about 70% of the
teacher (table 7) confirmed that there is no
gender balance between girls and boys in terms
Table 7: Availability of enough teachers, learning materials and equipment
Enough Teachers
Enough learning materials and adequate
equipment
Source: Researcher (2012)
More than 57% of the community members were
of the opinion that parents in Garissa County do
not offer financial support for the
implementation of UPE by 2015. However all
community members agreed that parents buy
their children extra text books to supplement
those issued at school. But contrary to the view
of other respondents more than 70% of
community members and 60% of the out of
school children appreciate the level of
participation of pastoral communities in the
implementation of UPE in Garissa County.
Factors affecting implementation of UPE
The researcher asked the pupils,
teachers and out of school children what they
thought was responsible for the high dropouts of
pupils in the county and their responses
included: lack of finance, lack of family support,
early marriages, drug abuse, congested classes,
nomadic lifestyle of the community, insufficient
boarding primary schools in the rural areas, child
labour, frequent cancellation of primary school
68
of enrollment, dropout, completion and transition
rates. They blamed this to cultural practices of
the community which gave preference to boys
education and also encouraged early marriages,
child labor, female genital mutilation, and
nomadic lifestyle of pastoral communities, as
well as high illiteracy among parents. The head
teachers separately complained that so many
seminars and workshops interfered with teaching
table in public primary schools.
Yes No
0.0 100.0
14.3 85.7
examination results, early pregnancies,
discrimination, poor attitude towards education,
lack of good role models, lack of motivation,
female genital mutilation, lack of school
uniforms and other materials, and lack of
sanitary towels in the case of girls.
Seventy two percent of the pupils and
about 54% teachers acknowledged that many
children of school going-age are out of schools
in Garissa County. This big number is a
hindrance to the implementation of UPE in the
county. Table 8 below shows that 37.9% of the
pupils respondents indicated that poverty is
responsible of keeping children out of school
compared to 17.2% who said nomadic lifestyle,
10.3% who said ignorance, 6.9% who said child
labour, and 3.4% who said bad attitude towards
girls education and early marriage of girls. Sixty
nine percent of the pupils respondents admitted
that the bulk of the primary school learners were
boys. A further 72% of the pupils said the
situation of water and sanitation in their schools
is moderate, compared to 13.8% (mainly from
the urban areas) who said it was bad. Pupils from
the rural areas added that some schools are
usually closed during drought seasons due to
lack of water.
Studies done by the Ministry of
Education and United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) indicate that the level of
Table 8: Factors Keeping Many Children Out of School
Factors
Nomadic
Poverty
Bad attitude towards girls and early marriage for girls
Child labour
All of them
Ignorance
Total
Source: Researcher (2012)
The out of school children agreed with those in
school that many children of their age are not in
school because of lack of parental support,
poverty, drug abuse, female genital mutilation,
early marriages, child labour, nomadic lifestyle,
periodic drought and lack of adequate boarding
primary schools in the rural areas, but also added
other factors like many of them are orphans,
parents poor attitude towards school learning,
conflict between Islamic and secular schools, and
their lack of interest. However about 60%
dismissed the view that pastoral communities in
Garissa County do not support the
implementation of UPE and instead said that
FGM and early marriages are the main factors
that hinder the implementation of the program.
69
participation of pastoral communities in North
Eastern Province in the implementation of UPE
is very low. Sixty two percent compared to 38%
of the pupils agreed with this observation; and
41.4% also agreed with a quasi official statement
that the county may not realize the 2015
Millennium Goal for Education.
Frequency Percent
5 17.2
11 38
1 3.4
2 7
7 24.1
3 10.3
29 100.0
The out of school children also said that
hot weather plays a negative role in the
implementation of UPE in the sense that teachers
recruited from other parts of Kenya find it
difficult to withstand the harsh climatic
conditions in the county. They added that hot
weather affects learning during the afternoon and
water shortage during drought periods normally
forces many children out of school to go and take
care of family animals. On the whole 50%
compared to 40% of the out of school children
agreed that the county is unlikely to implement
the universal primary education by 2015.
The teachers agreed with the pupils and
out of school children that poverty is responsible
for high school dropouts, low enrollment, and
early girl marriages. They also said that the
situation is aggravated by poor roads, drought,
and lack of electricity, long distance to schools,
harsh climatic conditions and breakdown of
families. They added that even with the
introduction of free primary learning, many
children in the county are out of school because
parents cannot afford them basic needs like food
and clothes.
The Impact of Culture and Religion
Eighty five percent of the teacher
respondents agreed that the culture of the
communities affects the implementation of
universal primary school in the county. They
explained that parents have a preference of
integrated schools because they offer both
secular and Islamic education; early marriages of
girls results in higher rate of dropouts; FGM
interferes with girls learning process because
parents believe that they should be married off
once they are initiated; boys and girls are not
supposed to be mixed in schools a fact that
discourages competition between them; and boys
Table 9: Effect of Islamic Schools on the Implementation of UPE in Garissa County
Yes
No
Total
Source: Researcher (2012)
We also requested teachers to state their level of
agreement on whether the implementation of
UPE in Garissa County can be hastened by
employing more teachers, motivating teachers
through salary increment, enhancing school
facilities, providing all essential learning
materials, offering school meals, promoting
education awareness, obligating parents to take
girls to schools, or devising joint programmes
between public and Islamic schools (table 10).
70
education is more preferred especially in rural
areas.
Majority of Garissa population is
Muslim and most of them believe that secular
education is a western tool to spread Christianity
among the people in the region. Based on this,
the researcher asked the teachers whether Islamic
schools (madarasa) have an impact on the
implementation of universal primary education
in the county. About 70% teacher respondents
compared to about 30% agreed that Islamic
schools have an influence on the implementation
of UPE in the county. They said that community
members argue that learning in madarasa
provides some harmony because pupils who
attend madarasa believe that Islamic education is
more superior to secular education. But the
teachers complained that the Islamic school
(dugsi) curriculum increases the workload of
pupils and they also miss regular classes for a
week or two whenever they are sitting for
madarasa exams.
Frequency Percent
9 69.2
4 30.8
13 100.0
They strongly agreed that employing more
teachers (100%), providing essential learning
materials to schools (84.6%), obligating parents
to take girls to schools (76.9%), enhancing the
physical facilities of schools (69.2%), motivating
teachers through salary increment (69.2%),
offering feeding programs in schools (61.5%),
promoting education awareness among
community members (53.8%) and coordinating
public and Islamic schools (46.2%), are the most
 crucial things that the government and other
stakeholders should attend to in order to achieve
UPE by 2015.
The teachers further stressed that lack
of enough teachers and enough learning
materials are the major challenges to the
implementation of UPE in the county. They
urged the government and other education
stakeholders to employ more teachers and
provide all essential learning materials to all
public primary schools. They also called for the
government to set up more boarding primary
schools in order to overcome problems
associated with pastoralism. Teachers also
suggested that the community should use waters
from River Tana to irrigate some fields and grow
food crops to reduce their reliance on livestock
for livelihood.
They confirmed that the poor roads in
the county contribute to frequent absenteeism of
pupils and teachers, poor performance in the
Table 10: Percentage of Level of Agreement
final exams, poor delivery of materials to
schools, and lack of school physical
development. They also complained that lack of
electricity in most parts of the region undermine
the performance of schools because neither can
the teachers access new learning materials
through the internet nor the pupils their
homework and revise at night.
All respondents and informants agreed
that the nomadic life style occasioned by hot
weather forces many pupils to drop out of
schools. The livelihood of the people is also
adversely affected by drought and many families
cannot keep their children in school whenever
there are food shortages. The girls pupils also
absent themselves from school during such times
to fetch water from long distances to cater for the
needs of the family. Finally, during such periods
schools only operate for half days because
children barely concentrate in class especially in
the afternoons. Some schools are even closed
due to shortage of water.

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly No response

Agree Disagree

Employ more teachers 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Increase teachers salary 69.2 30.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

increment

Enhance school physical 69.2 15.4 7.7 0.0 0.0 7.7

facilities
Provide essential learning 84.6 15.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
materials
Offer school feeding 61.5 30.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.7
programs
Promote education 53.8 38.5 7.7 0.0 0.0 0.0
awareness

71
Obligate parents to take 76.9 23.1
girls to schools
Devise joint programme 46.2 46.2
between public and
Islamic schools
Source: Researcher (2012)
Summary
This study aimed at
investigating the factors affecting the
implementation of universal primary education
in Garissa County. One of the tasks was to
provide an overview of the current status of
universal primary education in Garissa County.
The others were to examine the factors hindering
the implementation of UPE in Garissa County
and to explore the role of and the relationship
between culture and religion within the context
of the implementation of universal primary
education in the county.
This study employed both
qualitative and quantitative research methods to
carry out data collection from pupils, head
teachers, teachers, community members, out of
school children, and other education stakeholders
in Dujis and Lagdera constituencies. Stratified
sampling was used to select respondents from
pupils, teachers and out of school children while
purposive sampling was employed to get
responses from the other respondents.
The study found out that
more than half of the public primary school
pupils indicated that the physical facilities of
their schools are inadequate for the
implementation of UPE and stated that they
dont have enough classes, teachers and desks to
cater for the enrolled numbers. The pupils also
indicated that the conditions of the toilets in their
schools are hostile; their schools dont have a
library and are understaffed. More than half of
the respondents indicated that 1-5 pupils dropped
out of class in 2011 to assist family members.
Almost all the head teachers,
teachers and parents concurred that the available
72
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
7.6 0.0 0.0 0.0
school facilities, learning materials and staff in
public primary schools are inadequate for the
implementation of UPE in Garissa County by
2015. They observed that the teacher pupil ratio
is 1:70 in town schools and the book pupil ratio
is 1:4. Majority of the head teachers and teachers
indicated that the enrollment rate of their school
is high while dropout rate is moderate and there
is no gender balance between girls and boys in
terms of dropout, enrollment rates, and
completion and transition rates in their schools.
They were also of the
opinion that poverty in Garissa County
contributes to high school dropout as pupils go
out to seek early employment to earn a living;
low enrollment and high rate of girl child
dropout due to early marriages, and both have a
bearing in the implementation of UPE in the
county. They further observed that the level of
participation of pastoral communities in the
implementation of UPE in the county is low
which was out rightly rejected by parents and the
out of school children. These two groups also
stated that the culture and religion of the
community do not affect the implementation of
UPE. The key informants confirmed the position
of the teachers and the head teachers and added
that the position of most public primary schools
needs to be improved for the implementation of
UPE by 2015.
The teachers and the head
teachers also indicated that poor roads and lack
of electricity in many parts of the county affect
the implementation of universal primary
education since: it leads to poor performance in
the final exams; poor transport and
communication; and it hinders development of
schools. A relatively significant number of head
teachers and teachers believe that many school
going age children in the county are out of
schools due to high rate of poverty, family
breakdowns, lack of enough schools and fixed
settlements, poor performance, cultural belief
and ignorance.
All the respondents other
than the parents agreed that the girl child in the
county is disadvantaged on matters of education
because of household chores, early marriage in
exchange of money, negative attitude towards
girl education and FGM. They also agreed that
Islamic schools affect the implementation of
UPE and the education in general because they
increase the amount of workload of the pupils as
members of the community prefer to take their
children to integrated schools which offer
religious studies, Arabic lessons and secular
education. They added that such curriculum only
guarantees poor time management as reflected
by the fact that majority of pupils who join
Islamic schools end up quitting public schools.
Conclusions
On the basis of the findings
the study concluded that the school, learning
materials and the number of staff in public
primary schools in Garissa County are
inadequate for the implementation of UPE by
2015. The schools were overwhelmed by the
enrollment rate that followed the implementation
of free primary education in 2003 although some
schools, especially those in the rural areas, are
still grappling with the issues of retention and
low enrollment.
There is no gender balance
in terms of dropout, enrollment rates, and
completion and transition rates in school in
Garissa County. Due to ignorance and nomadic
lifestyle the level of participation of pastoral
communities in the implementation of universal
primary education is minimal. Lack of finance
and family support, early marriages, drug abuse,
congested classes, nomadic lifestyle, shortage of
boarding primary schools, lack of awareness
about the importance of UPE, seeking early
employment, poor infrastructure, high level of
73
illiteracy among parents, frequent cancellation of
the KCPE results, early pregnancies, peer
influence, lack of good role models, lack of
motivation, FGM, distance to school, and lack of
sanitary towels for the girls, are some of the
factors that hinder the implementation of
universal primary education in Garissa County.
Similarly extreme poverty in
the county is not conducive to the
implementation of UPE and it also forces parents
to send their children to work to eke a living. In
addition the constant drought and shortage of
water aggravates school dropouts especially in
rural areas because of the migration of families
and livestock to the neighboring countries in
search of water and pasture.
Lack of electricity undermines the performance
of pupils in the final exams and the development
of ICT in the rural schools while poor roads
affect the delivery of foods and materials to
schools during the rainy seasons.
Early marriages, FGM and
Islamic schools were also found to affect the
implementation of universal primary in Garissa
County. The study found that majority of those
who attended Islamic schools considered Islamic
education to be more important than secular
education and ended up quitting school.
The study, therefore,
concluded that family-based factors (poverty,
parents education levels and child labour);
school-based factors (understaffed teachers, lack
of sufficient learning materials); community-
based factors (culture, religion and community
lifestyles), environmental-based factors (harsh
climatic conditions) and district based factors
(poor infrastructure and lack of electricity) all
contribute to the poor implementation of
universal primary education in Garissa County.
Limitations
This study sought to assess
the factors affecting the implementation of
universal primary education in Garissa County.
There is need to replicate the study in other arid
and semi-arid areas of Kenya so as to make solid
conclusions and policy recommendations.
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