Could these findings be the tonic primary education needs?

By Wachira Kigotho

Results on reading and mathematics achievement among pupils in primary schools in Kenya indicate standards are gradually moving downhill, according to a broad new Unesco survey.

The study on educational quality released last month was done in 15 countries in eastern and southern Africa.

According to the study by Unesco’s Southern African Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ), Kenya’s 13 year-olds are behind their counterparts in Seychelles, Mauritius and Tanzania in reading. They are also behind their counterparts from Mauritius in mathematics.

AIC Kajiado Girls students. New study finds that Kenyan students lag behind counterparts in Tanzania, Seychelles and Mauritius in reading. PHOTO: JONAH ONYANGO/STANDARD]

Demus Makuwa, the Acting Director of SACMEQ Co-ordinating Centre in Paris, says the results were derived from tests that were based on official curricula, school syllabuses and textbooks used. Participating countries were Kenya, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia and Seychelles. Others were South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zanzibar and Zimbabwe.

The study sampled 60,000 pupils, 8,000 teachers and 2,800 head teachers from these countries.

Although Kenya was ranked among the best six countries that showed high levels for reading and mathematics, it is also one of the countries whose scores had slipped marginally from 2000 levels. By examining the success of school systems in each of those countries, the researchers observed great disparities that showed many pupils had not reached the minimum reading level that is needed to survive at the next stage of reading.

Besides testing and comparing pupils’ reading and mathematics scores, the survey examined other schooling conditions that influence educational quality and retention. “Researchers took into account enrolment rates, government spending on education, language differences, pupil nutrition, teacher age and qualifications and school facilities,” says Dr Njora Hungi, a leading researcher at Unesco.

Sweeping survey

“There are massive pupil enrolments without corresponding increases in human and material resources,” says Makuwa. For instance in all the countries, nearly half of the pupils were in schools that required major repairs, or needed to be rebuilt.

Subsequently, the study revealed great disparities in individual school performances, by comparing the results of pupils within each country. The results also showed that pupil’s age, home background and pupil-teacher ratio are vital indicators in the prediction of achievement in reading and mathematics in primary education system.

Basically, the sweeping survey provides a roadmap for governments in the region to gather information on how to improve learning outcomes in schools. For instance, grade repetition in the region is considered as a remedy for low achieving pupils.

Unfortunately in Kenya, the trend has not been wiped out and many pupils are being forced to repeat classes by teachers and parents, especially in private schools. According to the survey, about 50 per cent of pupils in class six have repeated at least once. The survey indicates about 14 percent of pupils in class six this year will be repeating.

The issue of grade repetition is rather worrying, especially when studies show that neither automatic promotion nor grade repetition addresses the problems of low achievers satisfactorily. According to Dr JereBrophy, a senior researcher at Unesco’s International Institute of Education Planning, potential solutions lie in providing low achieving pupils with more and better learning opportunities.