Social-, Indenrigs- og Børneudvalget 2017-18
SOU Alm.del Bilag 351
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REPUBLIC OF KENYA
THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND RESEARCH
CONCEPT NOTE FOR A PROPOSED STUDY VISIT TO THE DENMARK IN
OCTOBER 2018
Background
1.1
Parliament of Kenya
The new constitution enacted in 2010 created a two-chamber Parliament; the National
Assembly and the Senate. The National Assembly has 290 members elected from
constituencies, 47 women each elected from the counties and 12 members nominated by
parliamentary political parties according to their strength in the National Assembly (Article
90) to represent special interests: the youth, people with disabilities and workers. The other
member of the National Assembly, in ex officio capacity, is the Speaker.
The role of the National Assembly is to enact legislation, determine the allocation of revenue
between the levels of Government, oversee national revenue, expenditure and State organs.
Committees are an efficient way of running the business of the House. Well-functioning
Committees expand democratic governance. Committee mandates and membership focus
attention on specific issues and engender meaningful deliberations. Committees have defined
mandates and memberships. They study an issue or set of issues and then report back to the
House. This allows individual Members to focus their attention on a subject matter, study it
in detail and deepen their understanding of the issues.
One such Committee is the Committee on Education and Research which oversights
Education matters in the Country including the Ministry of Education, teachers, and
education programs. The Committee further legislate on matters under its remit.
1.2 Objectives of the proposed visit
The Committee undertakes both local and abroad visits on fact-finding, learning and sharing
best practices in executing its mandate. The Committee proposes to visit the Danish
Parliament and meet with its counterpart Committees on Education and the Domestic, Social
Affairs and Children's Committee to learn on best practices in legislation and scrutiny of
Management of Education in the Country.
The Committee seeks to benchmark with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of
Higher Education to appraise itself with the measures implemented in basic education in
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 SOU, Alm.del - 2017-18 - Bilag 351: Henvendelse fra det Kenyanske parlament om et møde med udvalget
Denmark to enhance quality in achieving quantity, equity, quality and high completion rates
for upper secondary and tertiary education amongst other issues. Specifically, the Committee
will be keen to understand measures put into place to enhance positive learning
environments, strong pedagogical leadership and well-prepared teachers, all supported with
an effective evaluation and assessment framework in Denmark.
1.2
Expected outcomes of the proposed visit
It is expected that the visit would result in: -
1. Develop a framework for assessing and reporting on education progress in Kenya;
2. Define mechanisms for funding, accountability and transparency in Kenyan basic
education institutions and universities to support quality outcomes for all students; and,
3. Understand VET reforms aimed at shaping a more demand-driven TVET system in
Kenya.
4. Understand the concept of sheltered workshops and group homes /sheltered housing.
Benefits and challenges.
1.4 Education System in Kenya
Education is a fundamental right enshrined in the Kenya Constitution.
The Government of Kenya recognizes education as the primary means of sustainable
economic development, social mobility, national cohesion, and social development. This has
led to the implementation of programs that rapidly expanded the education sector.
Challenges and gaps in the education sector include lack of adequate financial and physical
resources for holistic early childhood care and education.
Kenya’s education system has undergone significant changes over time and was previously
influenced heavily by the British during the colonial era.
Since 1985, the "8-4-4" system of education has been in place. This consists of eight years of
primary school, four years of secondary school and four years of university education. With
the introduction of this system, students who successfully complete their primary education
receive the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and those that complete their
secondary schooling receive the (KCSE).
Kenyan education is split into:
Kindergarten: ages 4 to 5
Primary school: ages 6 to 14
Secondary school: ages 14 to 18
University: ages 18 and above
The Government is currently implementing a new system of Education is which was rolled
out in January, 2018 covering nursery, Standard One, Two and Three 2017 on a pilot basis in
lower primary schools in Kenya. The system, places emphasis on Continuous Assessment
Tests (CATs) over final examinations at every level of education. It is expected that in 2019,
the system will be rolled out in Standard Four to Six and in 2020 it will cover Standard
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Seven, Eight and Form One. In 2021, the system will be extended to Form Two only and in
the following year it will cover Form Three. In 2023, it will be rolled out in Form Four.
According to the new system (2-6-3-3-3), primary education will be split into two categories,
which is Pre-primary and Primary education, taking two and six years respectively.
Students will then advance to Junior Secondary School a stage that would take them three
years before joining the Senior Secondary level for another three years focusing on their areas
of specialization depending on their abilities and interests. For instance Science or Arts.
After the senior secondary stage, students would go ahead to either enroll at vocational
training centres or pursue university education.
The evaluation would be through continuous assessment tests, offered by the respective
schools to enable the learners transition by gauging the students skills, competencies and
To date, Kenya has made significant strides in access to education following the
implementation of Free Primary Education (FPE) in 2003 and subsidized Secondary
Education in 2008 in line with the World Education Forum declaration on Education for All
(EFA). The enrolment in primary school has increased from 6.1 million in 2002 to 10.3
million in 2016 while the enrolment in secondary school has increased from 0.9 million in
2005 to 2.7 million in 2016. In spite of the fact that access to education has improved in
Kenya, the provision of quality education still remains a challenge.
1.5 Special Needs Schools in Kenya
There are a total of 97 special schools in Kenya that provide specialized education. The
ministry of Education through Kenya Integrated Education Program is encouraging
integrating children with disabilities into ordinary school rather than having special schools
for them. This way they can interact with other children and those without disabilities can
learn to accept them. The role of the Government with regards to children with special needs
is:
1. Identification and assessment of disabilities
2. Establishment of special needs units (special class) in regular schools
3. Making referrals of children with special needs to special schools, units, integrated
programs or for medical examination and treatment.
4. Running seminars for teachers handling children with special needs, field officers, local
administrators, health and social workers
5. Collection of information which forms the basis for central planning and special needs
education survey research.
Kenya adheres to the principle of equal opportunity and treatment which is the ultimate
objective of preparing young persons with disabilities for regular work. However, the with
affirmative action policies put in place large numbers of young persons with disabilities in
Kenya continue to face barriers to access education and entry into the work force.
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The Kenya delegation from the National Assembly seeks to meet the following to benchmark
on the best practices in Denmark.
1.
2.
3.
4.
The Parliamentary Education Committee
The Parliamentary Domestic, Social Affairs and Children's Committee
The Minister/Ministry Officials for the Ministry of Higher Education and Science
The Minister/Ministry Officials for the Ministry of Higher Education and Science
The Committee also wishes to make visits to the following places:
1. Guided tour of the Danish Parliament
2. Tour of the Sheltered Workshops
1.
Meeting the Parliamentary Education Committee
The Committee wishes to learn and share on the best practices on
(a)
Mandate of the Committee,
(b)
Handling
of bills and motions within the committee’s
remit
(c)
How the Committee performs its scrutiny and legislation role over the education sector
public schooling, private schools upper secondary education (general, commercial,
technical and other pre-university programmes) and vocational training programmes
(d)
Adult education and in-service training,
(e)
Leisure and after-school schemes for children and young people
2. Meeting the Parliamentary the Domestic, Social Affairs and Children's Committee
The Committee wishes to learn and share on the best practices on
(a) Mandate of the
Domestic, Social Affairs and Children’s Committee
(b) Parliamentary scrutiny of government work
(c) Support for children and learners with functional impairments /children abled
differently
(d) Special needs schools to cater for the welfare of learners with functional impairments
(e) Public and private pre-school childcare services.
(f) How Denmark has successfully managed to establish and run sheltered workshops and
group homes /sheltered housing. Benefits and challenges.
(g) Visit to sheltered workshops.
3. Meeting with the Minister/ Ministry Officials for the Ministry of Education
(a) Management of Education in Denmark at the National and Municipality levels.
(b) Evaluation and assessment mechanisms/Examinations system in Danish Education
System
(c) How the country has successfully achieved high transition rate of learners from
primary to secondary and tertiary levels of education.
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(d)
Integration of sports in the education system in Denmark.
4. Meeting the Minister/Ministry Officials for the Ministry of Higher Education and
Science
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
Management of Higher Education in Denmark
Understand how Vocational education and training (VET) in Denmark facilitates entry
into the labour market.
Financing of higher Education
Ensuring quality of the academics programmes offered the universities
International exchange programmes and collaboration in the areas of Education
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