CHALLENGES FACED IN IMPLEMENTING FREE PRIMARY EDUCATION FOR PASTORALISTS IN KENYA

Abstract

Governments in Sub-Saharan Africa allocate between 5% and 25% of public expenditure budgets to education ministries, because education is seen, correctly, as a major contributor to human welfare, social and economic development (World Bank, 2005). It is clear that these large expenditures are sub-optimal and provide less than the expected return. This situation has been felt more acutely with the introduction of free primary education (FPE). Despite the high enrolment in FPE in urban areas, the response from pastoral communities has been rather lukewarm.The general objective of the study was to investigate the challenges faced in implementing Free Primary Education policy among pastoralists in Kenya. Consequently, the rationale of this study lies in need to evaluate the impact of an educational policy and find out how its implementation responds to challenges in provision of access to Primary Schooling. The study adopted ethnographic research design that utilised purposive sampling technique and saturation procedure to select a total of 170 respondents that included head teachers, teachers, parents, school dropouts, educational managers, community leaders, and Non Governmental Organizations. Purposive sampling was used to select individuals, groups and organizations that would provide insight into the study. Data was collected using focus group interviews, structured and unstructured interviews, observation, and document analysis. Subsequently, data was collected by use of questionnaire that was sent to head-teachers and education officials and was used only to validate the qualitative data. The collected data was coded, analyzed, described and summarized in order to generate themes on educational policy and practice. The study identified various challenges such as: inadequate funding; poor infrastructure; limited awareness towards education; limited community support; insecurity and cattle rustling and lifestyle of pastoralists that impedes the government’s efforts to attain FPE. These challenges threatened the implementation of FPE for pastoralists and further illustrate the complex and messy process of policy implementation in education sector. Key words: free primary education (FPE), policy implementation, pastoral communities, challenges.