Essay: Improving Primary Education Quality in Kenya

By Zhen Li

This article seeks to provide the government of Kenya with two main recommendations for improving the quality of primary education: a public-private partnership strategy to deal with the financial burden for both schools and children’s families, and to gamify education to motivate students and improve primary education outcomes.

Photos by Barbara Borst

1. Introduction

According to the Borgen Project (2021), before being influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic, the primary education enrollment rate stood at 99% in Kenya, driven by the government’s Free Primary Education program. However, the outcome of primary education still lags in the country, with a 27% dropout rate (Greroire Christine, 2017). In 2019 alone, only 3.26 million children attended secondary school in Kenya compared with 10.1 million who went to primary school, Statista shows. Further, the government is struggling with over-crowded schools due to the large population of school-aged children, and “the teacher-to-student ratio exceeds 1:100, leaving teachers overworked and overwhelmed in some classes” (Mutisya, APHRC, 2020; Welp, Borgen Project, 2021).

Data from the World Economic Forum shows that adequate education and employment will bring about 500 billion US dollars to the Sub-Saharan region within the next 30 years (Mustafa et al., 2022). With 37% of the population living on less than 1.90 USD a day, which is the current international poverty line (World Bank, 2015) and 18.9% population living in poverty (US Census Bureau, 2019), the Kenyan government needs to improve education quantity and quality for its future generations who will contribute to Kenya’s economic development.

This article seeks to provide the government of Kenya with two main recommendations for improving the quality of primary education, which is now suffering from high dropout rates and poor educational resources. The first recommendation is a public-private partnership strategy to deal with the financial burden for both schools and children’s families in order to decrease the significant dropout rate, and to increase educational resources. The second recommendation is to gamify education to motivate students and improve primary education outcomes.

2. Recommendations

2.1 Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in Education

2.1.1 Definition of PPP in Education

Generally speaking, PPP in education can be defined as:

“A contractual relationship between government and private sector for a specific project, with simultaneous involvement of government and private sectors in education, with an understanding to share the costs and benefits and risks and rewards” (Tilak, 2010:2).

PPP has two common forms in education. In the first one, the government proposes an initiative, then invites private sector actors, such as companies, non-governmental organizations, and/or individual citizens to join and implement the education project together. In the second form, private sector actors propose the initiative of an educational project, and then approach the government to work on it together. Either case needs the government to work with the private sector towards an educational plan (Tilak, 2010).

2.1.2 Problems of PPP Education in Kenya

Although the government of Kenya has already found a way to improve the quantity and quality of education by cooperating with private sector actors (Mutisya, APHRC, 2020), this has yet to operate smoothly in the primary education. One of the reasons for this is that some private actors, especially schools, do not fully engage in the nation’s education system where they should be cooperating with the government. Instead, they are competing with the public education system (Zuilkowski et al., 2018).

For example, the Bridge International Academics (BIA), created by an American couple, is a for-profit education company operating community school programs partnered with the Kenyan government since 2009. The BIA has been running 405 community schools across 30 of 47 counties in Kenya (Bridge International Academies). As a technology-based education company, BIA aims to provide the poorest children in the world with low-cost private education. However, according to Tyre’s profound research into the BIA (2017), although said institution claims it only charges 6 dollars tuition monthly, this amount is still a financial burden for many families in Kenya, causing passive dropouts of children from low-income families. The BIA does not have the direct access to all children that they claim as it just opens doors for those families who can afford to pay the tuition (Riep, 2019).

Lacking educational resources, with many uncertified teachers, makes it tough for the BIA to expand. In addition, despite the BIA gives instructions each class to the teachers through its e-reader model named the “Academy in a Box”, this confines the engagement in its classrooms. BIA is also unwilling to operate in remote rural areas, and only chooses to implement its program in urban settings where it could gain more profits and commercial opportunities (Riep, 2019). Lastly, BIA’s actions ignited the public education system. For example, in 2016, “the Busia County Education Board and Busia County Director of Education ordered BIA to close its schools in the county due to noncompliance of Basic Education and Learning Institution Registration Requirements as per the Basic Education Act 2013” (Riep, 2019: 14).

In all, with the BIA as an example, many of the private schools in Kenya are divorced from the government’s “Free Primary Education” concept, pursuing commercial profits and having suffered from the same financial pressures and lack of teaching resources as the public schools. The quality of private schools is also untestable (Zuilkowski et al., 2018). These problems lead to dropouts and ineffective education.

Therefore, the government of Kenya needs to cooperate with the private sector, especially with private schools, in order to improve the quality of primary education.

2.1.3 To Update PPP Education in Kenya

Based on the problems of the current PPP education in Kenya, it would be better to primarily apply the strongest aspect of PPP: offering financial support to reduce the cost of public and private schools and the students, just as the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) have brought financial support to universities in Kenya since the early 1990s through PPP. In that case, admitted students can get financial support from the private sector to access education in public universities (Obosi, 2018). Similarly, a company can offer funding for poor students to go to public primary schools. In return, companies will gain reputation, business opportunities, and employees, which is one of the outcomes of corporate social responsibility, “the commitment of business to contribute to sustainable economic development, working with employees, their families, and the local communities” (qtd. in Jamali and Mirshak, 2007: 243-244).

Private and public schools in Kenya should also cooperate and not operate independently. As the study of Baum and Riley shows (2019), private schools in Kenya, to some extent, surpass the public schools in quality. However, Free Primary Education has reached everywhere in the country (Welp, Borgen Project, 2021), especially the remote rural areas where private schools rarely exist. Therefore, one way to fully exert the advantages of both types of schools is through cooperation. Public schools can learn how to improve education quality from private ones.

PPP has its own limitations in this case. First, not all private schools are good in quality (Baum and Riley, 2019), and it is still hard for private schools to share their teaching resources because they need these to sustain themselves. Second, private sector actors can be so dominant if they are the biggest investors in the education system (de Koning, 2018). Moreover, the fundings from both sides may fall into corruption or other illegitimate activities (de Koning, 2018). The government also needs to find another way to improve the quality of its own education system.

2.2 Gamification in Education

2.2.1 Definition of Gamification in Education

Gamification has been an emerging trend in education (Surendeleg et al., 2014). It means “using game-based mechanics, aesthetics and game thinking to engage people, motivate action, promote learning, and solve problems” (Kapp, 2012:10). In short, gamification is a concept embracing game elements and game thinking instead of actual games (Kiryakova, Angelova, and Yordanova, 2014).

In education, gamification does not need to involve actual games, video games e.g. Instead, “it involves the integration of design elements or activity patterns traditionally found in games into educational contexts” (Buckley and Doyle, 2016: 1163). The primary goal of gamification in education is to increase students’ engagement (Adukaite et al., 2017), which means students actively carry out school work and study (Surendeleg et al., 2014). Gamification stimulates both intrinsic motivations, students’ interests and self-motivation, and extrinsic ones, meaning external factors like rewards to increase students’ engagement (Buckley and Doyle, 2016). Also, it has been an effective tool for students to actively engage in classes and to “develop problem-solving skills and decision-making and increase their ability to imagine and pay attention (Alebous, 2021:93).” Compared to traditional lecture classes which often times are perceived as boring by students, the gamification study has the advantage of accumulating students’ interests and participation (Surendeleg et al., 2014).

Therefore, gamification is highly likely to be an effective tool for improving the quality of primary education in Kenya.

2.2.2 Possible Future Implementation of Gamification

Based on the situation in Kenya, the method that focuses on the process of gamified education increases students’ intrinsic motivation in studying, as proposed by authors Kiryakova, Angelova, and Yordanova (2014). First, although intrinsic motivation has many overlaps with extrinsic motivation (Adukaite et al., 2017), excessive attention paid to results would lead to too much competition among students in Kenya, leading “failed” students to lose confidence in study and increase the drop-out rate. Besides, intrinsic motivation is better than extrinsic one for effective gamified education (Buckley and Doyle, 2016). Therefore, it is important for the government and the private sector to help increase students’ interest in studying and then being more engaged.

According to Kiryakova, Angelova, and Yordanova’s method, the teachers in one class must first know the students’ characteristics in order to determine “whether the new tools and techniques would be suitable” (2014: 3). Secondly, learning objectives should be clearly defined. The goal determines what teaching method and content should be included, and what game elements and tools should be used. Next, they must create educational content that is “interactive, engaging, and rich in multimedia elements” (2014: 3). Based on suggestions from these authors, the content should be “multiple performances”, which means students can repeat it to improve their skills; “flexibility”, which means it must be tailored to students’ ability, it cannot be too hard or too easy; “increasing difficulty level” requiring more efforts from students step by step; “multiple paths”, meaning it should allow students to reach the objective by utilizing different strategies in order to build their own; and “adding game elements and mechanisms”, implying that students independently can get rewards after reaching the objective, and also by interacting with other students. In short, this method not only stimulates students to study on their own initiative but also to interact with others, which benefits their social network and communication skills.

For example, in a mathematics class the teacher should first be aware of his or her students’ characteristics. If many of the students fear being unable to reach their goals, the teacher should decrease the level of competition and find ways to increase interaction among students. Next, the teacher should clearly define what the lesson is about, for instance, understanding the circumference of a square. They could bring some square objects like comics and have students calculate the circumferences of those comics. Comics should vary in size in order to increase the difficulty of calculations, but they should not surpass the math skills the students have gained. Teachers should encourage students to calculate the circumference by using different methods, such as by addition or multiplication. If a student has completed his or her calculations, the teacher could reward them with the comic. To those students who can not finish independently, the teacher should encourage them to actively cooperate with other students to do the task together.

This example shows that nothing with advanced or expensive game tools and complex game elements are needed. Rather, simple and low-cost ideas can be used to inspire students to study actively: as Surendeleg points out, “the key advantage of gamification is the low cost of development and the possibility of making learning content more ‘delicious’ or ‘interesting’ using game elements” (2014: 1612). As a result, incorporating gamification into the education system in Kenya will not increase the financial burden of both the government and the private sector actors. Therefore, it will be feasible for schools to advocate and implement gamified education, and the government can even bring it to its Free Primary Education in remote rural areas. In addition, gamified education will provide students with more highly interactive classes in contrast to the BIA’s “Academy in a Box” model that limits the creativity of students and lacks communication between teachers and students. By being more motivated to study students are less likely to drop out; additionally,  students’ families would recognize their passions for learning so that they are less likely to force them to drop out.

2.2.3 Possibility of Promoting Gamified E-learning

Among all kinds of gamification learning, with the help of mobile devices and advanced technology, the most popular one is e-learning (Surendeleg et al., 2014), since it is easy to gamify, usually through a linear online course (Muntean, 2011). Moreover, e-learning is a better way to teach during the Covid-19 pandemic or other contingencies while preventing students from losing education opportunities (Alqahtani and Rajkhan, 2020).

E-learning is not a new idea in the developed world. Yet, with only 29% Internet penetration in Africa (Ojino and Mich, 2018), it seems difficult to promote it in said continent. However, Kenya is one of the few African countries currently leading in technology: “in Kenya, Internet users’ penetration was 78% in March 2017 (compared to 45% in 2016 and 7.5% in 2006); mobile user penetration was 88.1% in 2015 and reached 90% in 2017” (Ojino and Mich, 2018:112). College students have been utilizing e-learning in universities for a long time (Mustafa et al., 2022). 

One way of introduce gamification could be to encourage universities to create their own gamified e-learning software and then the government or the private sector could reward them and bring the software to use in primary schools for free. It could also be beneficial to college students who major in such fields to do part-time jobs, such as teaching in primary schools, which could increase the teacher standard and resources in the short and long-terms; or selling the software they created for stipends from the government or private education companies. 

In addition, through the PPP strategy, the private sector can play a key role in advocating for e-learning. For instance, a philanthropic non-governmental organization, Computers for Schools Kenya, has already built 8 regional centers hosted by the government and installed 400,200 computers in more than 12,010 public primary and secondary schools since 2002 (Computers for Schools Kenya, 2021). Another example is an non-governmental organization (NGO) called Kenya Kids Can, which has built computer centers for Kenya pupils to study Microsoft office (Kenya Kids Can, 2021). Moreover, many donors or stakeholders of private education organizations are doing technology business with investors from the Silicon Valley e.g. (Tyre, 2017). Thus, it could be feasible for them to create free software for students in Kenya. 

Admittedly, even if gamified e-learning were promoted smoothly in Kenya, it would still be very tough for the government and the private sector to expand it to remote and impoverished areas due to their dearth of infrastructure. Consequently, this would cause an unbalanced situation between urban areas and poor rural areas. Therefore, more future public-private partnerships are not only needed in education, but also in digital infrastructure to promote Internet and technological devices in rural areas.

3. Discussion and Conclusion

There are no perfect solutions to eliminate the imbalance of education between rural and urban areas in Kenya. The public schools can reach the remotest areas in Kenya but cannot provide the same education quality to children there as they do to children in urban areas; while the private schools can provide generally decent-quality education but can not reach the remote rural areas because of unaffordable tuition rates. As a result, it is more urgent to have cooperation between the government and private sector to overcome this issue.

Despite its challenges, the PPP strategy can be an attempt to collect more resources for the primary education system in Kenya as it once did in its higher education system. Through PPP, the private sector can provide funding and resources for the government in exchange for more access to business and other opportunities.

In addition, gamification is an effective tool for improving the quality of primary education. This tool costs less but significantly increases students’ motivation to engage in study, which is one of the best methods to increase teaching resources, reduce dropout rates, and improve the quality of each student’s education. Besides, as it is low-cost and easy to operate model, it is applicable to both public and private schools, and even to schools in remote areas.

In conclusion, despite the challenges that exist, the public-private partnership strategy and the gamification in education are beneficial to improve the quality of primary education in Kenya. The government should implement long-term initiatives embracing these two ideas, to offer the children in Kenya a better education.

References:

Adukaite, Asta, et al. “Teacher Perceptions on the use of Digital Gamified Learning in Tourism Education: The Case of South African Secondary Schools.” Computers & Education, vol. 111, 2017, pp. 172-190, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S036013151730091X, doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2017.04.008.

Alebous, Tahani. “The Effectiveness of an Educational Environment Based Gamification Strategy through an Educational Platform in the Acquisition of Scientific Concepts and the Attitudes Towards Science.” Multicultural Education, vol. 7, no. 3, 2021.

Alqahtani, Ammar Y., and Albraa A. Rajkhan. “E-Learning Critical Success Factors during the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Comprehensive Analysis of E-Learning Managerial Perspectives.” Education Sciences, vol. 10, no. 9, 2020, pp. 216.

Baum, Donald R., and Isaac Riley. “The Relative Effectiveness of Private and Public Schools: Evidence from Kenya.” School Effectiveness and School Improvement, vol. 30, no. 2, 2019, pp. 104-130.

Bridge International Academies. , 2020, https://bridgeinternationalacademies.com/.

Buckley, Patrick, and Elaine Doyle. “Gamification and Student Motivation.” Interactive Learning Environments, vol. 24, no. 6, 2016, pp. 1162-1175, https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2014.964263, doi:10.1080/10494820.2014.964263.

Computers for Schools Kenya. About Us – Computers for Schools Kenya. , https://cfsk.org/about-us/.

de Koning, Mireille. “Public–private Partnerships in Education Assessed through the Lens of Human Rights.” The State, Business and Education. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018.

Greroire Christine. Education and Poverty. , 2017, https://www.kenyacic.org/2017/09/education-and-poverty/.

Gudo, Calleb. “Financing Higher Education in Kenya: Public-Private Partnership Approach.” International Journal of Educational Policy Research and Review, vol. 1, no. 1, 2014, pp. 1-5.

Jamali, Dima, and Ramez Mirshak. “Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Theory and Practice in a Developing Country Context.” Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 72, no. 3, 2007, pp. 243-262.

Kapp, Karl M. The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-Based Methods and Strategies for Training and Education. John Wiley & Sons, 2012.

Kenya Kids Can. “Computer Centers.”, https://kenyakidscan.org/computer-centers/.

“Kenya: Students in Primary School 2015-2020.”, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1135862/primary-school-enrollment-in-kenya/.

Kiryakova, Gabriela, Nadezhda Angelova, and Lina Yordanova. Gamification in Education, Proceedings of 9th International Balkan Education and Science Conference, 2014.

Masale, Wendy. “Effect of Competitive Strategies on Organizational Performance: Case Study of Bridge International Academies, Nairobi.” Effect of Competitive Strategies on Organizational Performance: Case Study of Bridge International Academies, Nairobi, 2018.

Muntean, Cristina I. Raising Engagement in E-Learning through Gamification, vol. 1, 2011.

Mustafa, Abdulsalam S., et al. “Gamification of E-Learning in African Universities: Identifying Adoption Factors through Task-Technology Fit and Technology Acceptance Model.” Next-Generation Applications and Implementations of Gamification Systems. IGI Global, 2022.

Mutisya Maurice. Some Kenyan Schools are Dangerously Overcrowded. what must be Done. , 2020.

Obosi, Joseph. “Public Private Partnerships as a Redistributive Strategy in University Education in Kenya.”, 2018.

Ojino, Ronald, and Luisa Mich. “Mobile Applications in University Education: The Case of Kenya.” Journal of E-Learning and Knowledge Society, vol. 14, no. 1, 2018.

Okwaro, Kennedy O., Joel Chepkwony, and Rose Boit. “Factors Affecting Adoption of Public-Private-Partnership in County Government of Uasin Gishu, Kenya.” International Academic Journal of Procurement and Supply Chain Management, vol. 2, no. 3, 2017, pp. 33-56.

Riep, Curtis. “What do we really Know about Bridge International Academies.” A Summary of Research Findings.Brussels: Education International, 2019a.

—. “What do we really Know about Bridge International Academies.” A Summary of Research Findings.Brussels: Education International, 2019b.

Surendeleg, G., et al. “The Role of Gamification in Education – a Literature Review.” Contemporary Engineering Sciences, vol. 7, 2014, pp. 1609-1616, doi:10.12988/ces.2014.411217.

Tilak, Jandhyala B. “Public-Private Partnership in Education.” The Hindu, vol. 24, 2010, pp. 2010.

Tyre, Peg. “Can a Tech Start-Up Successfully Educate Children in the Developing World?” New York Times Magazine, 2017.

US Census Bureau. “QucikFacts of Poverty in Kenya.”, 2019, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/keyapahacountynebraska/IPE120220#IPE120220.

Welp Julia. “The Progress and Potential of Education in Kenya.”, -09-12T08:30:34+00:00, 2021, https://borgenproject.org/potential-of-education-in-kenya/.

World Bank. “Poverty in Kenya.”, 2015, https://databank.worldbank.org/source/poverty-and-equity.

Zuilkowski, Stephanie S., et al. “Parents, Quality, and School Choice: Why Parents in Nairobi Choose Low-Cost Private Schools Over Public Schools in Kenya’s Free Primary Education Era.” Oxford Review of Education, vol. 44, no. 2, 2018, pp. 258-274.