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SCHOOL REPORT CARD 2013

School report card 2013 Kenya

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SCHOOL REPORTCARD

2013

SCHOOL REPORT CARD2013

© National Taxpayers Association (NTA)

May 2014

This publication was made possible through support provided by the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Hewlett Foundation.

The findings expressed herein are those of the NTA and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our partners.

TAbLE Of COnTEnTSAcronyms vii

Executive Summary 1

Acknowledgements 3

Public Primary Schools Enrolment Data for 2010-2011 4

Introduction 5

Methodology 6

PART A: SCHOOL REPORT CARD

1 Selection of SRC Committee Members & Training of Parents 7

1.1 Parents’ Participation in SRC Meetings 8

1.2 Records of minutes 8

1.3 Second meeting with Parents to discuss the SRC 9

1.4 Parents’ turnout for the second meeting to discuss and complete the SRC 10

2 SRC Ratings 11

2.1 SRC Ratings – National Outlook 11

2.2 SRC Ratings – Regional Outlook 12

2.3 SRC County Rankings 12

2.4 Relationship between active parental participation and student outcomes 13

2.5 Relationship between SRC ratings and K.C.P.E 14

2.6 SRC Rankings – Top 5 Counties by SRC Category 15

2.7 SRC Rankings - Worst rated Counties by SRC Category 16

PART B: NTA’s INDICATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR SCHOOL ANNUAL BASELINE DATA

3 School participation indicators 19

3.1 Pupil Enrolment 19

3.2 Pupil dropout rates 19

3.2.1 Dropout Rate for boys at the County level 22

3.2.2 Dropout Rate for Girls at the County level 23

3.3 Transition rates 24

3.4 Student absenteeism 25

3.5 Annual mean scores 26

3.5.1 Educational outcomes from 2009 to 2012 26

3.5.2 Educational outcomes at county level 27

3.6 Total Number of school facilities constructed 28

3.6.1 Sanitation 28

3.6.2 Water 30

3.7 Numbers of teachers 31

3.7.1 Teacher-Pupil Ratio 32

3.8 School development plan 33

3.8.1 Relationship between un/availability of SDP/SIP and K.C.P.E outcomes 34

3.9 Proportions of schools that had enrolled physically challenged pupils 35

4 Perceptions pertaining FPE grant amount – KES 1020 37

4.1 ReceivedproposalsfromschoolsonsufficientFPEamount 37

4.2 County Analysis 37

5 Conclusions 38

6 Recommendations 39

LiST Of TAbLES Table 1 – Sample size distribution at county level 6

Table 3 - Proportions of schools where meetings were held (1st Meeting) 7

Table4-ParentswhoattendedthefirstmeetingtoexplaintheSRCandselectCommitteemembers 8

Table 5 - Regional Attendance ratios 8

Table 6 – Proportions of schools with well-kept records of meetings 9

Table 7 - Proportions of schools which held a second meeting 9

Table 8 - Parents who attended the 2nd meeting to discuss and complete the SRC 10

Table9-Proportionsofparentswhoattendthefinalmeetingatregionallevel 10

Table 10 - SRC Ratings by category disaggregated by region 11

Table 11 - SRC Ratings at Regional level 12

Table 12 - SRC County Rankings 13

Table 13 - Top 5 Counties (SRC Category 1) 15

Table 14 - Top 5 Counties (SRC Category 2) 15

Table 15 - Top 5 Counties (SRC Category 3) 15

Table 16 - Top 5 Counties (SRC Category 4) 15

Table 17 - Top 5 rated Counties (SRC Category 5) 15

Table 18 - Top 5 Counties (SRC Category 6) 15

Table 19 - Top 5 Counties (SRC Category 7) 16

Table 20 - Top 5 rated Counties (SRC Category 8) 16

Table 21 - Top 5 rated Counties (SRC Category 9) 16

Table 22 - Top 5 rated Counties (SRC Category 10) 16

Table 23 – Worst rated Counties - Bottom 5 (SRC Category 1) 17

Table 24 - Worst rated Counties - Bottom 5 (SRC Category 2) 17

Table 25 - Worst rated Counties - Bottom 5 (SRC Category 3) 17

Table 26 - Worst rated Counties - Bottom 5 (SRC Category 4) 17

Table 27 - Worst rated Counties - Bottom 5 (SRC Category 5) 17

Table 28 - Worst rated Counties - Bottom 5 (SRC Category 6) 17

Table 29 - Worst rated Counties - Bottom 5 (SRC Category 7) 17

Table 30 - Worst rated Counties - Bottom 5 (SRC Category 8) 17

Table 31 - Worst rated Counties - Bottom 5 (SRC Category 9) 18

Table 32 - Worst rated Counties - Bottom 5 (SRC Category 10) 18

Table 33 - Dropout incidence grade 1-8 - Girls 21

Table 34 - Dropout incidence grade 1-8 - Boys 22

Table 35 - Boys dropout ratio disaggregated by County 23

Table 36 - Girls dropout ratio disaggregated by County 24

Table 37 - Educational outcomes [Grade 1 to 8] - 2009 - 2013 28

Table 38 - Number of students sharing 1 toilet 29

Table 39 - Teacher: Pupil ratio vs K.C.P.E Outcomes 33

Table 40 - Proportions of schools that had SDP/SIP 34

Table 41 - Relationship between un/availability of SDP/SIP and K.C.P.E outcomes 35

Table 42 - Proportions of schools with physically challenged pupils 36

Table43-ProposedFPEGrant 37

Table44-ProposedFPEGrantatcountylevel 37

LiST Of figuRES Figure1-ParsonsCorrelationbetweenSRCratingswithKCPE2013 14

Figure2-PupilEnrolmentfrombetween2009to2013 19

Figure3-Dropoutrate(YEAR2009-2013) 20

Figure4-Drop-outratebyGrade:2009/2013 20

Figure5-Totaldropouts[BeforeSRCvsAfterSRC] 21

Figure6-Totalabsencesfrombetween2009-2013 25

Figure7-Educationaloutcomes[Grade1-8] 27

Figure8-Numberoftoiletsfrom2009to2013 29

Figure9–Supply[Accesstopipedwater] 30

Figure10-Accesstowater[Supply&Stored] 30

Figure11-Totalabsencesdisaggregatedbyavailabilityoftappedwater 31

Figure12-Numberofteachersfrombetween2010to2013 31

Figure13–Thenumberofpupilsinclasses[2013] 32

ACROnymS

ASAL Arid and Semi-Arid Land

BOG Board of Governors

DEB District Education Board

DEO DistrictEducationOfficer

DFID Department for International Development

DQAS Directorate of Quality Assurance and Standards

KCPE KenyaCertificateofPrimaryEducation

KESSP Kenya Education Sector Support Programme

MOEST Ministry of Education Science and Technology

NTA NationalTaxpayersAssociation

SIMSC School Instructional Materials Selection Committee

SMC School Management Committee

SRC School Report Card

1National Taxpayers Association (NTA)

Executive Summary

This SRC project reports tremendous achievements in the work carried out within this programme since its inception in 2009. In harmony with the projects main objective, practical parental contribution has significantly improved over the last 4 years. During this phase of project an average of 62parents attended the initial meeting to train and select members for the SRC, in comparison to 42 parentspreviously,representinganincreaseof20parentsineachschool.Thisfeatisalsoreflectedby the 0.23 points improvement in SRC category 10 ‘parental responsibility’ ratings, as the schools ratingshavemarginallyimprovedfromthepreviousphase.Ofsignificancetothisfinding,thereisanemergingconnectionbetweentheSRCprojectandperformanceinexaminations.Asamatteroffact,schools with parents who are actively involved in the running of schools will by-all-means catapult the overall performance of their children.

Overall, for this phase, there is an encouraging improvement of 4 points in ratings across all the SRC categories tested. Parallel to the previous phase, the ‘role of children in the school’ received the highest ratings of 6.66 out of a possible 10 representing an improvement of .24 points. The highest surge in terms of SRC category ratings in comparison to the previous phase was recorded in SRC category 5 ‘Water and Sanitation’ (+0.58 points), meaning more schools now have access to cleanandfreedrinkingwaterwhichisabasiccommoditythatiskeytomaximizingstudentschoolattendance and consequently positive impact on outcomes.

The report further reveals a relationship between SRC ratings and overall K.C.P.E results. To this end, schools that posted an improved performance in the SRC project had also improved K.C.P.E results in 2013.

School participation indicators

Notably, this report outlines fundamental developments in the following key school participation indicators over the last 3 years;

1. Improved child enrollment and survival rate especially the girl child in line with MDG goal no. 3;

TheemergenceoftheF.P.Eprogrammesignaledanincreaseinenrolment.Significantly,theenrolmentof girls has been on the upward trend sustainably in the last 3 consecutive years.

2. Improved access to clean water and proper sanitation;

Access to clean water and proper sanitation improves enrolment and survival rates. In this regards, our endeavors at the community level has witnessed the number of toilets increase by 6 per cent and 66 per cent of these schools now have access to free and safe drinking water.

3. Improved number of teachers;

The number of male teachers increased from 9,256 in 2010 to 9,855 in 2013 representing a 6 per cent increase; while females increased by 7 per cent from 9,523 to 10,244 in the same period.

4. Educational outcomes

Thereisanexponentialimprovementintheprimaryschooleducationoutcomesoverthelastthreeyears particularly amongst girls.

Accountability Indicators

5. NumberofpublicschoolspubliclydisplayingFPEgrantsreceived

TherenumberofschoolspubliclydisplayingFPEgrantsintheschoolshasimprovedfrom65percentto 77 per cent from between 2009 to 2013. However, some of the head teachers have resorted to displayingthesefundsintheirofficewhichinessencedoesnotreflecttherequirementbyMOESTthat advocates for public display. The Headteachers have pointed out that due to lack of fencing

2 School Report Card 2013

around the schools, the accountability boards are open to vandalism. This initiative demonstrates the schools’ administration accountability and empowers stakeholders especially parents to demand for better services for their children consequently creating a conducive learning environment.

Attention and awareness indicators / Red flags

6. Worrying trends in student absenteeism

The rate of pupil absenteeism is on the rise and it is not being comprehensively measured and addressed because of the compulsory education law that assumes unwavering student attendance. However, this is not the case as reported and processes need to be put in place to measure and mitigate pupil absenteeism. I.e. The total number of missed school days for each enrolled child for each term and year.

7. Dropout rates especially from upper primary

While the proportion of pupils dropping out of school are reducing, the dropout ratios in some counties are worrying and as noted especially in Taita Taveta County which recorded a dropout incidence of 17 per cent for boys against the national average of 3 per cent. To make the bad situation even worse, most of these dropouts occur at the upper class/primary school level.

8. Sanitation

The number of toilets for both girls and boys has marginally increased. However, pupils are still disadvantaged as indicated in this report that on average 51 boys are sharing 1 toilet while 45 girls share 1 toilet on average. This is contrary to the MOEST policy which dictates that for every 23 girls there should be 1 toilet and I toilet for 27 boys.

3National Taxpayers Association (NTA)

Acknowledgements

This report is the cumulative results of a mutual relationship between the Ministry of Education ScienceandTechnology(MOEST)andTheNationalTaxpayersAssociation(NTA)withthesupportoftheDevelopmentPartners(DFIDandHewlettFoundation).Thereportsoughttoharnesstheskillsand knowledge of all the three institutions and empower parents assess their respective school inorder to produce a report aimed at enhancing better management of schools and contributing to better learning outcome in Kenya.

FromtheMinistryofEducationthanksaredueespeciallytoMr.MohammedMwinyipembe–DirectorofQualityAssuranceandStandards,MrJohnOpiyoandtheMOESTofficialsbothattheCountyandSub-County levels for their immense support.

TheNTAteamledbyMichaelOtienoandWoldeWesa,theNationalofficeandalltheNTARegionalcoordinatorsareappreciatedfortheirimmensecontributiontotheentireexercise,particularlyfordesigning,leadingandcoordinatingthefieldwork.

Many thanks go to Dr. Moses Ngware for his invaluable comments and our heartfelt appreciation goes totheKenyaNationalUnionofTeachers(KNUT),especiallytheexecutiveofficer,MrIdrisAdenandtheKNUTCountySecretaries,KenyaPrimarySchoolHeadsAssociation(KEPSHA)NationalofficeandtheCountyofficials,TheTeacherServiceCommission(TSC),theteachingfraternityandtheparentsat large who took an active role in the success of this entire project.

LastbutnotleastwearegratifiedtotheUKaidandtheHewlett&FloraFoundation,fortheirsteadfastsupporttowardsthisexercisealongsidetheDAIstaffsfortheirconstructivecommentswhichinformedthis effort.

4 School Report Card 2013

Public Primary Schools Enrolment Data for 2010-2011

Source: Ministry of Education Science and Technology

5National Taxpayers Association (NTA)

Introduction

The School Report Card project has been active in Kenya since 2009, when it was launched by the MOEST in collaboration with the NTA with the main objective of improving the quality of education for girls and boys in public primary schools by encouraging parents through capacity building to take a more practical role in the education of their children.

The project adopts a formal, consensus-based reporting that is completed by school parents annually on how well their school is performing on 10 key assessment areas of school attendance and performance indicators.Theresultof theSRCexerciseprovidesanopportunity for theeducationsector management to obtain an independent view of their performance and status. Moreover, it also providesanopportunityforidentificationofweakareasineducationserviceprovisionandinitiatesmeasures to enhance quality education delivery. In addition, the current phase included data on key school performance indicators were collected to provide more insights on the status of our schools and consequently compliment this report.

How does the SRC work?

Each year, all parents in the identified SRC schools willmeet together to discuss and agree onthe assessment scores they want to list in their School Report Card. Then the parents, through their School Report Card Committee, will send one copy of their completed School Report Card to the school management at the school level, one copy to the County Director of Education at the CountylevelandfinallyonecopytotheMinistryHeadOfficeandNTAattheNationallevel.Thiswillenable the education actors at all the mentioned levels to take appropriate action to mitigate issues identifiedintheSRCassessmenttool.

The School Report Card is a practical and accessible tool for parents to use to demand accountability and it is important to note that the main purpose of this project is to mobilize parental support for their schoolsandlinkthecommunityatlargewiththeministryofeducationofficialsatdifferentlevelsforthe purpose of enhancing governance and accountability in delivering quality services in education sector. The engagement of the key stakeholders at different levels will form an important component oftheactionplaninthecontextoftheeducationalpolicyasenvisagedinourconstitutionandtheBasic Education Act, 2013 which emphasizes partnerships and in doing so improve governance and transparency in education sector.

Project Coverage

Since its inception, the project has been successfully realized in 30 per cent of all public primary schools inKenya fromall 47Counties. During thefirstphase, theproject covered5,772publicprimary schools from 43 Counties. In the current phase, the project covered 2,023 public primary schools from 23 Counties in Kenya namely; Baringo, Bung’oma, Elgeyo/Marakwet, Garissa, Homa Bay,Kajiado,Kakamega,Kilifi,Kirinyaga,Kisii,Kisumu,Kitui,Kwale,Makueni,Mandera,Marsabit,Nakuru, Nandi, Nyandarua, Nyeri, Taita Taveta, Tana River and Vihiga.

6 School Report Card 2013

Methodology

In respect to the available resources under the current phase, NTA targeted to reach 15 per cent of the total public primary schools from half of the 47 Counties in Kenya. NTA intends to undertake a longitudinal study over a number of yearswith the selected school to establish any identifiedtrendthatcanofferlessonsgoingforward.Theselectionofthesecountiesandthespecificschoolswasrandom.Atthecountylevel,analgorithmwasemployedtoscientificallyselectthenumberofschoolsperCountyforinclusioninthesamplesize.Thesamplesize(x)ofschoolsinacountywasdetermined as follows:

x=(TargetSample/TotalPublicSchools*NumberofPublicPrimarySchoolsinthecounty).

X = (3,000/20,153) * No. of Public Primary Schools in the County

However, due to the National Teachers Strike in June 2013, coupled with the countrywide transfer of primary school heads and security concerns in some Counties like; Marsabit, Mandera and Tana River, reaching our target of 3,000 schools was unattainable. Thus 2,038 (67.4%) public schools from 23 counties were achieved as shown in the table below.

Table 1 – Sample size distribution at county level

County

CodeCounty Name

Sampled

Schools

Per cent

of total

sample

33 Baringo 67 3.3

36 Bung'oma 141 6.9

34 Elgeyo/Marakwet 60 2.9

45 Garissa 19 0.9

41 Homa Bay 129 6.3

31 Kajiado 29 1.4

37 Kakamega 96 4.7

04 Kilifi 73 3.6

09 Kirinyaga 88 4.3

40 Kisii 113 5.5

39 Kisumu 94 4.6

13 Kitui 279 13.7

County

CodeCounty Name

Sampled

Schools

Per cent

of total

sample

02 Kwale 85 4.2

18 Makueni 46 2.3

47 Mandera 2 0.1

16 Marsabit 14 0.7

27 Nakuru 83 4.1

29 Nandi 74 3.6

07 Nyandarua 189 9.3

08 Nyeri 92 4.5

01 Taita Taveta 118 5.8

05 Tana River 10 0.5

38 Vihiga 137 6.7

7National Taxpayers Association (NTA)

PART A - SCHOOL REPORT CARD

1 Selection of SRC Committee Members & Training of Parents

During the school visits, the following question was asked to the respondents: ‘Was there a meeting with parents to explain the School Report Card, and select School Report Card Committee members’? This question sought to determine whether there was a meeting held with parents to explaintheSRCandalsoselectmembersforpurposesofparticipatingintheSRCreporting.

An impressive (98 per cent) of the school responded that they held this meeting with parents to explain the School Report Card and select the School Report Committeemembers. This findingdemonstrates the desire and commitment of parents towards the SRC programme and authenticates that therewereactualmeetings(submittedtheattendance list)heldtoexplaintheSRCandtheselection of the SRC committee.

Furtherscrutinyatcounty levelshows thatKwaleandKilificounties fromthecoastal regionhadrelatively higher proportions of schools that did not carry out this meeting.

Table 3 - Proportions of schools where meetings were held (1st Meeting) Yes - Meeting was held No meeting was held

Total 98.2% 1.8%

BARINGO 98.4% 1.6%

BUNG'OMA 94.9% 5.1%

ELGEYO/MARAKWET 100.0% -

GARISSA 100.0% -

HOMA BAY 97.4% 2.6%

KAJIADO 100.0% -

KAKAMEGA 96.9% 3.1%

KILIFI 92.9% 7.1%

KIRINYAGA 98.8% 1.2%

KISII 98.0% 2.0%

KISUMU 98.8% 1.2%

KITUI 100.0% -

KWALE 90.4% 9.6%

MAKUENI 100.0% -

MARSABIT 100.0% -

NAKURU 100.0% -

NANDI 100.0% -

NYANDARUA 99.4% 0.6%

NYERI 98.9% 1.1%

TAITA TAVETA 98.3% 1.7%

VIHIGA 100.0% -

NOTE: A sample of 96 schools (4.8 per cent of the sampled schools) did not respond to this question

8 School Report Card 2013

1.1 Parents’ Participation in SRC Meetings

Parental participation in the education of their children has improved from the previous phase. On average, at the school level, 62 parents attended the initial meeting to select members for the SRC, in comparison to 42 parents in the previous phase representing an increase of 20 parents in each school.

The highest average turnout was recorded in Central region (91 parents per school) and the lowest in Eastern region (43). In the Coastal region, the turnout was skewed towards women, in that; there was nearly twice the number of females in attendance compared to men. Nyanza region recorded the highest ratio of male attendees in comparison to Women.

In summary, a total of 103,804parentsattendedthisfirstmeetingtoexplaintheSchoolReportCardand to select committee members.

Overall, there were more women (61 per cent) than men (39 per cent) as shown in table 4 and 5 below.

Table4-ParentswhoattendedthefirstmeetingtoexplaintheSRCandselectCommitteemembers

Total Women Total Men TOTAL

Mean 38.05 23.67 62.12

Sum 63,825 39,979 103,804

Gender representation ratios 61% 39% 100%

Table 5 - Regional Attendance ratios

REGION Total Women Men Mean

Central 25482 15110 10372 91.01

Coast 17478 12253 5225 74.26

North Eastern 1886 1115 771 66.87

Eastern 12401 7852 4549 43.06

Western 18597 11564 7033 59.23

Nyanza 13363 7436 5927 49.86

Rift Valley 14597 8495 6102 56.61

Total 103804 63825 39979 62.12

1.2 Records of minutes

The importance of keeping records of SRC minutes cannot be over emphasized. Records tell us what, where and when something was done and why a decision was made. They also tell us who was involvedandunderwhatauthority.Theyprovideevidenceofcommittee& individualactivityand promote accountability and transparency. These minutes can provide protection for individuals who act on the decisions of the schools committee by providing evidence that they acted on the committee’s directions.

Record keeping in our schools has improved by 4 points from the previous phase. However, there is still room for improvement as 10 per cent of the schools sampled DID NOThasrecordsoftheirfirstmeeting with parents. This point to apathy towards keeping record without knowing that, they form a very clear picture of their deliberations in the meetings. Table 6 below further illustrates this.

9National Taxpayers Association (NTA)

Table 6 – Proportions of schools with well-kept records of meetings

REGIONAvailability of well-kept records

Yes No

Central 89.7% 10.3%

Coast 82.5% 17.5%

North Eastern 90.3% 9.7%

Eastern 99.0% 1.0%

Western 91.1% 8.9%

Nyanza 89.8% 10.2%

Rift Valley 89.9% 10.1%

Total 90.5% 9.5%

1.3 Second meeting with Parents to discuss the SRC

In accordance to the SRC guidelines, schools are mandated to preside over a second meeting with parents to further discuss and complete the SRC form. Slightly above three-quarters (77%) held a second/finalmeetingwithparentstodiscussandcompletetheSchoolReportCard.Thisrepresentsa 7-point drop from the previous phase where 84 per cent of that sample held this meeting.

North Eastern region (100%) represented the highest incidence in terms of number of schools per region that held this meeting. The lowest incidences were recorded in Coast (67%) and Western (68%) regions.

Table 7 - Proportions of schools which held a second meeting

REGIONWas there a second or final meeting

Yes No

Central 74.1% 25.9%

Coast 67.4% 32.6%

North Eastern 100.0% -

Eastern 99.0% 1.0%

Western 67.9% 32.1%

Nyanza 77.8% 22.2%

Rift Valley 74.6% 25.4%

Total 77.3% 22.7%

10 School Report Card 2013

1.4 Parents’ turnout for the second meeting to discuss and complete the SRC

In the second meeting to discuss and complete the School Report Card, 74,901 parents out of the initial 103,804 parents attended, representing a 72 per cent follow up across the counties studied.

Incidences of absentee parents were highest in Coast region; where, 35 per cent of the parents who attendedthefirstmeetingdidnotshowupforthismeeting.Notably,thelowestproportionofparentsabsconding was in Eastern and North Eastern regions with 9 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

Lookingat theparallel figures for themeetings,morewomenattended in all the twomeetings.However,amongwomen,theirattendancewasslightlyhigherinthefirstmeetingthaninthesecondmeeting.

Table 8 - Parents who attended the 2nd meeting to discuss and complete the SRC

Total Women Total Men TOTAL

Mean 34.19 21.66 55.81

Sum 45851 29050 74901

Gender representation ratios 61% 39% 100%

Table9-Proportionsofparentswhoattendthefinalmeetingatregionallevel

REGION TOTAL % follow-up Total women Total men

Central 18779 74% 11113 7674

Coast 11598 66% 8059 3539

North Eastern 1714 91% 998 716

Eastern 11108 90% 7217 3891

Western 11456 62% 6955 4501

Nyanza 10122 76% 5626 4498

Rift Valley 10124 69% 5876 4227

Total 74901 72% 45844 29046

11National Taxpayers Association (NTA)

2 SRC RatingsIn this section, parents were required to rate the schools performance in accordance to key school performance indicators (KPIs). Parents were to give ratings out of 10 (1-10), where 1 represented a school that is very poor in that category and 10 represents a school that is the very best in that category. There were 10 categories included in the School Report Card, namely;

SRC-1. School Safety and Protection SRC-2. School Facilities

SRC-3. Access to Textbooks SRC-4. Continuous Assessment

SRC-5. Water and Sanitation SRC-6. Roles of Children at the School

SRC-7. The Management of Instructional Materials SRC-8. Performance of the School Management Committee

SRC-9. Homework Assignment and Marking SRC-10. Parental Responsibility

2.1 SRC Ratings – National Outlook

A general overview gives these schools an average rating of 61 out of a possible 100 points, representing an encouraging 4-point improvement from the previous phase. Similar to the previous phase, “Roles of Children at the School” - (Category 6) was the best rated category amongst the 10 categories with an average of 6.66 out of a possible 10, representing an improvement of 0.24 points. The highest surge in terms of SRC category ratings in comparison to the previous phase was seen in SRC category 5 ‘Water and Sanitation’ (+0.58 points).

Despite a notable improvement of 0.23 points, ‘Parental Responsibility’ – (Category 10) was once again rated as the poorest SRC category amongst the 10 SRC categories tested with a mean average score of 5.46 points out of a possible 10 points. Improving parental contribution in taking a more activeroleintheeducationofourchildrenisthesupersedingobjectiveoftheSRCprogramme.Fromthis data, we can conclude that despite a notable improvement from the previous phase most parents still observe their inclusion in the education of their children as non-essential.

Parallel to the last phase, schools emanating from the central region received the highest ratings (66.52/100) representing a 2.3 per cent increase; while, schools in Eastern Region received the lowest ratings (58.59/100) as shown in Table 10 below.

Table 10 - SRC Ratings by category disaggregated by region

REGIONSRC

1

SRC

2

SRC

3

SRC

4

SRC

5

SRC

6

SRC

7

SRC

8

SRC

9

SRC

10

Mean

100

Mean

Phase II

Total Phase iii 6.27 6.03 5.84 6.41 5.90 6.66 6.22 6.34 6.02 5.45 61.11 57.38

Central 6.74 6.51 6.51 7.07 6.26 7.09 6.70 6.86 6.82 5.89 66.52 64.22

North Eastern 5.97 6.06 6.38 6.62 5.94 6.88 6.24 6.53 5.97 5.68 62.26 52.45

Rift Valley 6.43 6.36 6.21 6.27 6.02 6.61 6.38 6.48 5.95 5.55 62.17 58.83

Nyanza 6.16 5.95 6.19 6.47 5.84 6.40 6.17 6.07 6.22 5.40 60.90 55.65

Coast 5.80 5.80 5.71 6.51 5.82 6.74 6.15 6.06 5.57 5.05 59.19 55.64

Western 6.56 5.90 4.83 5.91 5.66 7.03 6.12 6.64 5.66 4.83 59.13 55.87

Eastern 5.87 5.65 5.67 6.23 5.80 5.99 5.77 5.79 5.86 5.95 58.59 57.91

Total Phase ii 5.93 5.75 5.58 5.96 5.32 6.42 5.78 5.88 5.53 5.22 57.38

12 School Report Card 2013

2.2 SRC Ratings - Regional Outlook

Parallel to the previous phase, ‘the role of children in school’ was the best rated category in 5 out of the 7 regions sampled. This indicates that, teachers take good care of children in school and the pupils are always accountable to the teachers while at School. However, most parents from the data shown in the table below do not play their part well, for instance taking good care of their children while at home. This is illustrated by the parental responsibility rating that was the worst rated categoryinsixofthesevenregions.InbothEasternandNyanzaregions‘continuousassessment’was the best rated category while ‘school facilities’ was the worst rated category in Eastern region.

Table 11 - SRC Ratings at Regional level

Province Best Category Mean Worst Category Mean

Central Roles of children 7.09 Parental Responsibility 5.89

Coast Roles of children 6.74 Parental Responsibility 5.05

Eastern Continuous Assessment 6.23 School facilities 5.65

North Eastern Roles of children 6.88 Parental Responsibility 5.68

Nyanza Continuous Assessment 6.47 Parental Responsibility 5.40

Rift Valley Roles of children 6.61 Parental Responsibility 5.55

Western Roles of children 7.03 Parental Responsibility 4.83

2.3 SRC County Ratings

Similar to the previous phase, Kirinyaga County in Central Region was best rated County with a cumulative mean total of 72.82 out of a possible 100 points, followed by Nyeri (67.03) and then Makueni County (66.65) with the latter, incredibly recording a 10-point surge from the previous phase.

It is worth noting that Kirinyaga County has also been top of the Grade 8 K.C.P.E County Rankings since the formation of County Governments; asserting that there is a link between a well-run school and overall student outcomes.

Notably, Garissa County (65.28/100) recorded the highest increase in comparison to the previous phase (37.85/100).

Tana River County was the worst rated County with a cumulative mean of 47.00/100 followed by Mandera County 50/100 then Kakamega County (52.87) in that order. It is good to point out that Tana River and Mandera Counties have been dogged by persistent ethnic tensions and this could be the probable reason for their poor showing.

The county ratings is an indication of performance in terms of school facilities management, academic responsibilities management, parental responsibilities and children’s role while at school as shown in the Table below. Counties that performed better were rated highly while poor performers were rated low.

13National Taxpayers Association (NTA)

Table 12 - SRC County Rankings

Rank COUNTIESSRC

1

SRC

2

SRC

3

SRC

4

SRC

5

SRC

6

SRC

7

SRC

8

SRC

9

SRC

10

Total/

100

KCPE

MEAN

2013

01 KIRINYAGA 7.41 7.13 7.15 7.61 6.81 7.67 7.16 7.34 7.20 6.57 72.82 274

02 NYERI 6.73 6.64 6.81 7.23 6.34 7.25 6.76 6.70 7.14 6.30 67.03 256

03 MAKUENI 7.00 6.43 6.37 6.93 6.41 6.80 6.48 6.43 6.63 7.15 66.65 267

04 GARISSA 6.28 6.44 6.61 6.72 6.39 7.00 6.56 6.83 6.39 6.06 65.28 183

05 BARINGO 6.64 6.58 6.85 6.17 6.12 6.83 6.86 6.72 6.06 5.73 64.66 265

06 NYANDARUA 6.47 6.17 6.07 6.75 5.97 6.76 6.46 6.71 6.51 5.42 63.64 245

07 NAKURU 6.35 6.27 6.14 6.45 6.03 6.47 6.47 6.80 6.20 5.62 62.83 244

08 BUNG'OMA 6.75 6.47 5.76 6.51 5.83 7.12 6.67 6.88 5.75 5.19 62.81 249

09 KISII 6.52 6.18 6.52 6.56 5.77 6.47 6.27 6.40 6.25 5.50 62.46 242

10 NANDI 6.61 6.33 6.10 6.48 5.97 6.73 6.17 6.42 5.87 5.52 62.15 267

11 KISUMU 6.13 6.04 5.90 6.50 6.09 6.40 6.05 5.99 6.12 5.06 60.84 265

12 KAJIADO 6.21 6.25 5.93 6.57 6.04 6.70 6.14 5.89 5.86 5.15 60.55 258

13 KWALE 5.86 5.91 5.63 6.67 6.18 6.95 6.42 6.13 5.59 5.03 60.40 218

14 MARSABIT 5.86 5.93 6.29 6.57 5.57 6.86 5.79 6.14 5.71 5.43 60.14 239

15 TAITA TAVETA 5.92 5.78 6.01 6.57 5.76 6.83 6.10 6.29 5.63 5.32 60.10 217

16 HOMA BAY 5.87 5.70 6.10 6.37 5.72 6.34 6.17 5.84 6.25 5.52 59.67 258

17 VIHIGA 6.75 5.90 4.20 5.65 5.86 7.33 6.18 6.94 5.92 4.91 59.65 259

18 ELGEYO/MARAKWET 6.19 6.29 5.87 5.80 5.93 6.36 6.07 6.14 5.61 5.49 59.39 271

19 KILIFI 5.68 5.89 5.54 6.35 5.59 6.48 6.13 5.63 5.44 4.73 57.54 226

20 KITUI 5.68 5.52 5.55 6.12 5.70 5.86 5.65 5.68 5.74 5.75 57.22 233

21 KAKAMEGA 6.03 5.05 4.36 5.41 5.13 6.49 5.22 5.88 5.20 4.18 52.87 261

22 MANDERA 4.00 3.50 5.00 6.00 4.50 6.00 6.50 6.50 4.00 4.00 50.00 183

23 TANA RIVER 4.43 4.14 3.71 5.29 5.00 5.29 4.00 5.71 5.57 3.86 47.00 207

2.4 Relationship between active parental participation and student outcomes

The table above validates the existing causal relationship between active parental participationtowards the SRC project and overall student outcomes. Counties which recorded high ratings in parental responsibility also performed better during the 2013 K.C.P.E. Where parental responsibility wasaboveaveragetherewasasignificantdifferenceof11units(249minus238)outofatotalof500unitspossibleinthefinalnationalexam.Thereisthereforeastrongcorrelationbetweenassertiveparental responsibility and high learning outcomes. This data suggests that the more we as parents involve ourselves in mechanical processes designed to facilitate the education of our children, then the more successful the children will be in institutions of learning such as primary schools.

14 School Report Card 2013

2.5 Relationship between SRC ratings and K.C.P.E

Pearson correlation theory was employed to establish the relationship between SRC ratings and the K.C.P.E results for 2013. The graph below shows a moderate score of 0.5 indicating that SRC overall ratings are moderately correlated to K.C.P.E outcomes. However, as illustrated by the graph below, SRC category 1 ‘school safety and protection’ (0.71 score) is strongly linked to K.C.P.E results meaning this category is paramount to the performance of students during K.C.P.E.

Similarly,SRCcategory2(SchoolFacilities)at(0.59score)andcategory9(Homeworkassignmentandmarking)at(0.50score)aresignificantlyrelatedtoK.C.P.Eresults.

Figure1-ParsonsCorrelationbetweenSRCratingswithKCPE2013

Equation 1 – KEY - Correlation explained

Coefficient, r

Strength of Association Positive Negative

Small .1 to .3 -0.1 to -0.3

Medium .3 to .5 -0.3 to -0.5

Large .5 to 1.0 -0.5 to -1.0

15National Taxpayers Association (NTA)

2.6 SRC Rankings – Top 5 Counties by SRC Category

Kirinyaga County in Central Region led in 9 of the 10 SRC categories; Makueni County with an average rating of 7.15/10.00 was the best rated County in Category 10 ‘Parental Responsibility’ as shown in the breakdown below in Tables 13 - 19.

COUNTY

SRC - 1

“School Safety and

Protection”

KIRINYAGA 7.41

MAKUENI 7.00

BUNG'OMA 6.75

VIHIGA 6.75

NYERI 6.73

COUNTY

SRC - 2

“School Facilities”

KIRINYAGA 7.13

NYERI 6.64

KAJIADO 6.63

BARINGO 6.58

BUNG'OMA 6.47

COUNTY

SRC - 3

“Access to Textbooks”

KIRINYAGA 7.15

BARINGO 6.85

NYERI 6.81

GARISSA 6.61

KISII 6.52

COUNTY

SRC - 4

“Continuous

Assessment”

KIRINYAGA 7.61

NYERI 7.23

KAJIADO 6.94

MAKUENI 6.93

NYANDARUA 6.75

Table 13 - Top 5 Counties (SRC Category 1) Table 14 - Top 5 Counties (SRC Category 2)

Table 15 - Top 5 Counties (SRC Category 3) Table 16 - Top 5 Counties (SRC Category 4)

COUNTY

SRC - 5

“Water and Sanitation”

KIRINYAGA 6.81

MAKUENI 6.41

GARISSA 6.39

NYERI 6.34

KAJIADO 6.25

COUNTY

SRC - 6

“Roles of Children at the

School”

KIRINYAGA 7.67

VIHIGA 7.33

NYERI 7.25

BUNG'OMA 7.12

GARISSA 7.00

Table 17 - Top 5 Counties (SRC Category 5) Table 18 - Top 5 Counties (SRC Category 6)

16 School Report Card 2013

COUNTY

SRC - 7

“The Management of

Instructional Materials”

KIRINYAGA 7.16

BARINGO 6.86

NYERI 6.76

BUNG'OMA 6.67

GARISSA 6.56

COUNTY

SRC - 8

“Performance of the

School Management

Committee”

KIRINYAGA 7.34

VIHIGA 6.94

BUNG'OMA 6.88

GARISSA 6.83

NAKURU 6.78

Table 19 - Top 5 Counties (SRC Category 7) Table 20 - Top 5 Counties (SRC Category 8)

COUNTY

SRC - 9

“Homework Assignment

and Marking”

KIRINYAGA 7.20

NYERI 7.14

MAKUENI 6.63

NYANDARUA 6.51

GARISSA 6.39

COUNTY

SRC - 10

“Parental Responsibility”

MAKUENI 7.15

KIRINYAGA 6.57

NYERI 6.30

GARISSA 6.06

KITUI 5.75

Table 21 - Top 5 Counties (SRC Category 9) Table 22 - Top 5 Counties (SRC Category 10)

2.7 SRC Rankings - Worst rated Counties by SRC Category

ManderaandTanaRivercountiesreceivedbottomratingsin9outofthe10SRCcategories;KilifiCounty was listed as the poorest in the performance of the school management committee (SRC category – 8).

This is due to a multitude of factors that bedevil school in these Counties. Some of these factors include amongst others unfavorable climatic conditions, heightened tension and insecurity related to ethnicconflict,longperiodsofdraughtandconsequentlypooravailabilityofwater.

Mandera County performed poorly in school safety and protection indicating that this county is highly insecure as illustrated in table 23- 32 below.

17National Taxpayers Association (NTA)

COUNTY

SRC - 1

“School Safety and

Protection”

MANDERA 4.00

TANA RIVER 4.43

KITUI 5.68

KILIFI 5.70

KWALE 5.86

COUNTY

SRC - 2

“School Facilities”

MANDERA 3.50

TANA RIVER 4.14

KAKAMEGA 5.05

KITUI 5.52

HOMA BAY 5.70

COUNTY

SRC - 3

“Access to Textbooks”

TANA RIVER 3.71

VIHIGA 4.20

KAKAMEGA 4.36

MANDERA 5.00

KILIFI 5.48

COUNTY

SRC - 4

“Continuous

Assessment”

TANA RIVER 5.29

KAKAMEGA 5.41

VIHIGA 5.65

ELGEYO/MARAKWET 5.80

MANDERA 6.00

Table 23 - Worst 5 Counties (SRC Category 1) Table 24 - Worst 5 Counties (SRC Category 2)

Table 25 - Worst 5 Counties (SRC Category 3) Table 26 - Worst 5 Counties (SRC Category 4)

COUNTY

SRC - 5

“Water and Sanitation”

MANDERA 4.50

TANA RIVER 5.00

KAKAMEGA 5.13

KILIFI 5.55

MARSABIT 5.57

COUNTY

SRC - 6

“Roles of Children at the

School”

TANA RIVER 5.29

KITUI 5.86

MANDERA 6.00

HOMA BAY 6.34

ELGEYO/MARAKWET 6.36

Table 27 - Worst 5 Counties (SRC Category 5) Table 28 - Worst 5 Counties (SRC Category 6)

COUNTY

SRC - 7

“The Management of

Instructional Materials”

TANA RIVER 4.00

KAKAMEGA 5.22

KITUI 5.65

MARSABIT 5.79

KISUMU 6.05

COUNTY

SRC - 8

“Performance of the

School Management

Committee”

KILIFI 5.59

KITUI 5.68

TANA RIVER 5.71

HOMA BAY 5.84

KAKAMEGA 5.88

Table 29 - Worst 5 Counties (SRC Category 7) Table 30 - Worst 5 Counties (SRC Category 8)

18 School Report Card 2013

COUNTY

SRC - 9

“Homework Assignment

and Marking”

MANDERA 4.00

KAKAMEGA 5.20

KILIFI 5.42

TANA RIVER 5.57

KWALE 5.59

COUNTY

SRC - 10

“Parental Responsibility”

TANA RIVER 3.86

MANDERA 4.00

KAKAMEGA 4.18

KILIFI 4.71

VIHIGA 4.91

Table 31 - Worst 5 Counties (SRC Category 9) Table 22 - Worst 5 Counties (SRC Category 10)

19National Taxpayers Association (NTA)

PART B - NTA’s INDICATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR SCHOOL ANNUAL

BASELINE DATA

3 School participation indicators

3.1 Pupil Enrolment

Pupil enrolment in primary schools has continued to increase since introduction of free primary education by the Kenyan government in 2003. According to the MOEST, total pupil enrolment in grades 1 to 8 increased from 6.06 million in 2002 to 8.9 million in 2013. Gross Enrolment Ratio at primary level increased from 93% in 2002 to 107.6% in 2007. The national NER estimate for 2007 was 91.6%, of which 94.1% were boys and 89.0% girls.

ThegraphbelowshowstheenrolmentfiguresfortheschoolssampledduringtheNTA’sIndicativeFrameworkforSchoolAnnualBaselineData.Thereisanincreasingtrendinpupilenrolmentfrom2009 to 2013. Encouragingly in line with the MDG no. 3, more girls compared to boys were enrolled between2012and2013.ThisisinlinewiththeeffortscarriedoutbyDFID,GovernmentofKenya,County Governments and communities in advocating for Girl Child education.

Figure2-PupilEnrolmentfrombetween2009to2013

3.2 Pupil dropout rates

The most challenging aspect in primary school education since independence has been the high dropout incidence after initial child enrolment. As part of its program, NTA continue to encourage parents to follow up on their children through school system to completion with the goal of improving primary school completion ratio. Baseline data collected indicates a descending trend in child dropouts from between 2009 to 2013. However, the overall drop-out rate from the school system (from Grades 1 to 8) in 2013 was 3%, and as shown below, dropout incidences are higher amongst boys compared to girls.

20 School Report Card 2013

Figure3-Dropoutrate(YEAR2009-2013)

As shown in the graph above, the number of girls and boys dropping out of school is reducing; however, most children (both boys and girls) drop-out of school at upper primary classes - between grade 4 and grade 7 as indicated in the graph below.

Figure4-Drop-outratebyGrade:2009/2013

21National Taxpayers Association (NTA)

3.2.1 Impact of SRC in curbing dropouts

Ensuring uninterrupted education throughout all education levels is one of the fundamentals of the SRC project. The programmes tasks parents to take an active role in ensuring that children attain minimum secondary education level. This report shows a remarkable reduction in the number of childrendroppingoutofprimaryschool.Frombetween2010to2011,thenumberofchildrenwhohad dropped out of school was 52,237 compared to 48, 643 between 2012 and 2013 representing a drop of 7 per cent. As indicated in the graph below, this achievement is higher amongst the girls (7.5 per cent) in comparison to boys (6.4 per cent).

Figure5-Totaldropouts[BeforeSRCvsAfterSRC]

Table 33 - Dropout incidence grade 1-8 - Girls

Number of girls who dropped out from mainstream education Grade %

of dropoutsCLASS YEAR 2009 YEAR 2010 YEAR 2011 YEAR 2012 YEAR 2013

Standard 1 1476 1335 1291 1212 1118 11.5%

Standard 2 1540 1333 1212 1181 1109 11.4%

Standard 3 1520 1361 1322 1324 1268 12.1%

Standard 4 1611 1505 1408 1518 1313 13.2%

Standard 5 1745 1562 1591 1544 1322 13.9%

Standard 6 1820 1703 1684 1646 1467 14.9%

Standard 7 2103 1901 1883 1908 1599 16.8%

Standard 8 699 706 752 691 648 6.3%

Total 12514 11406 11143 11024 9844 100.0%

22 School Report Card 2013

Table 34 - Dropout incidence grade 1-8 - Boys

Number of boys who dropped out from mainstream education Grade %

of dropoutsCLASS YEAR 2009 YEAR 2010 YEAR 2011 YEAR 2012 YEAR 2013

Standard 1 1895 1904 1623 1605 1608 11.9%

Standard 2 1782 1909 1752 1739 1632 12.2%

Standard 3 1934 1825 1813 1882 1752 12.7%

Standard 4 1931 1912 1905 1908 1819 13.1%

Standard 5 2044 2034 1913 1994 1793 13.5%

Standard 6 2153 2140 2096 2085 1716 14.1%

Standard 7 2226 2292 2283 2226 1853 15.0%

Standard 8 996 1155 1132 1126 1037 7.5%

Total 14961 15171 14517 14565 13210 100.0%

3.2.2 Dropout Rate for boys at the County level

With a dropout incidence of 17 per cent, Taita Taveta County ratios are much higher than the National average of 3 per cent. To compound this, most of these dropouts occurred in Grade 8 (19 per cent). Literaturereviewpointtowardsabilateralrationalethatexplainsthisundesirablesituation;1)therobust campaign focusing on girl child education which as a result pay minimal or no attention to boys and 2) mining (Iron ore and Gem stone) in the County which lures school-aged boys to the mines for money and 3) ranches in the County which employ boys as herd boys. Previous studies also uncovered the high teacher absenteeism ratio in the same county and this habit (teacher skiving) has a direct impact on the prospects of any child completing primary education.

Elgeyo/ Marakwet (0.3 per cent) and Kajiado (0.7 per cent) counties recorded the lowest dropout ratioforboysamongstthecountiesstudied.ThelowdropoutrateinKajiadoCountycanbeexplainedby its proximity to Nairobi City County and the fact that majority of Kajiado families eke theirlivelihoodfromNairobi(“Nairobians”livinginKajiado)thusarehighlyinfluencedbytheinteractionwith the residents of Nairobi.

Cross analysis at the school level shows that NDOME Primary School in Taita Taveta County recorded the highest dropout rate (31 per cent) amongst boys where a third dropped out in 2013; in comparison CHEPKOGIN Primary School in Elgeyo-Marakwet County recorded the highest dropout rate of 2 per cent amongst the County with the lowest drop-out rate.

The ranked table below also shows dropout incidences from Grade 1 to 8 disaggregated by the counties studied.

23National Taxpayers Association (NTA)

Table 35 - Boys dropout ratio disaggregated by County

COUNTY Mean Grade1 Grade2 Grade3 Grade4 Grade5 Grade6 Grade7 Grade8

TAITA TAVETA 17.3% 16.5% 16.8% 17.3% 16.5% 17.4% 17.6% 17.5% 19.2%

KISUMU 5.7% 5.5% 5.9% 5.4% 6.1% 6.7% 5.8% 5.6% 4.3%

KISII 4.7% 4.8% 4.7% 4.7% 4.1% 4.9% 5.6% 6.0% 3.0%

HOMA BAY 3.9% 4.0% 3.7% 4.2% 3.9% 3.6% 4.5% 4.6% 2.7%

KWALE 3.6% 2.8% 3.7% 3.8% 3.9% 4.3% 4.2% 3.9% 1.9%

KITUI 3.0% 2.7% 2.6% 2.7% 2.8% 3.1% 3.7% 3.8% 2.3%

VIHIGA 2.8% 1.9% 2.5% 2.7% 2.7% 3.1% 3.8% 4.1% 1.8%

KILIFI 2.8% 2.0% 2.3% 3.0% 2.9% 3.0% 3.2% 2.6% 3.3%

KAKAMEGA 2.5% 1.6% 2.2% 2.1% 2.3% 2.9% 2.8% 4.2% 2.0%

BARINGO 2.4% 1.9% 1.8% 2.1% 2.2% 2.8% 3.5% 4.3% 0.7%

MARSABIT 2.4% 2.6% 3.0% 2.8% 2.7% 2.7% 2.3% 2.4% 0.7%

NAKURU 2.1% 1.1% 1.5% 1.8% 2.1% 2.4% 2.7% 3.2% 2.2%

NYANDARUA 2.0% 1.6% 1.3% 1.7% 2.0% 2.1% 2.6% 3.1% 1.4%

BUNG'OMA 2.0% 1.7% 1.8% 1.7% 2.0% 2.2% 2.4% 2.7% 1.2%

NYERI 1.7% 2.0% 1.7% 2.0% 1.5% 1.8% 2.1% 1.9% 0.6%

KIRINYAGA 1.7% 1.7% 1.8% 1.4% 1.8% 1.8% 1.8% 2.5% 0.8%

GARISSA 1.2% 1.4% 1.1% 1.2% 1.4% 1.7% 1.5% 0.9% 0.5%

KAJIADO 0.7% 1.0% 1.1% 0.7% 0.9% 0.3% 0.3% 1.4% 0.1%

ELGEYO/M-WET 0.3% 0.0% 0.2% 0.3% 0.2% 0.2% 0.0% 1.0% 0.2%

3.2.3 Dropout Rate for girls at the County level

The dropout ratios for girls at the county level are parallel to those of boys in all the Counties but Taita Taveta which had a 2 per cent drop out incidence for girls in comparison to boys 17 per cent over the same period.

All the 3 counties sampled from the former Nyanza region topped the dropout rate for girls, suggesting a serious block in the completion of primary education for girls in Nyanza region.

With a dropout rate of 5.5 per cent, Kisumu County was at the top of the list, Kisii County (4.9 per cent) and Homabay County (4.8%) followed in that order.

24 School Report Card 2013

Table 36 - Girls dropout ratio disaggregated by County

COUNTY Mean Grade1 Grade2 Grade3 Grade4 Grade5 Grade6 Grade7 Grade8

KISUMU 5.5% 5.1% 4.7% 5.4% 5.9% 6.4% 6.5% 6.5% 3.8%

KISII 4.9% 4.4% 4.0% 4.8% 4.7% 5.0% 5.4% 6.9% 3.8%

HOMA BAY 4.8% 3.8% 3.7% 4.3% 4.8% 5.0% 5.9% 6.9% 4.3%

KWALE 3.9% 3.2% 3.8% 4.3% 3.7% 4.8% 4.7% 4.5% 1.8%

KILIFI 3.1% 2.3% 2.4% 2.8% 2.8% 3.4% 3.9% 4.0% 3.2%

KITUI 3.0% 2.9% 3.0% 2.7% 2.9% 3.2% 3.3% 3.6% 2.7%

VIHIGA 2.8% 2.2% 2.3% 2.6% 2.8% 2.8% 3.6% 4.2% 1.8%

BARINGO 2.8% 3.1% 2.9% 3.2% 2.8% 2.4% 3.2% 3.3% 1.1%

KAKAMEGA 2.7% 1.9% 2.1% 2.3% 2.6% 2.9% 2.9% 4.5% 2.3%

MARSABIT 2.6% 3.2% 3.1% 3.0% 3.1% 2.8% 2.4% 2.6% 0.6%

NAKURU 2.3% 1.1% 1.8% 1.9% 2.5% 2.6% 3.1% 3.0% 2.1%

TAITA TAVETA 2.1% 1.8% 1.9% 2.2% 2.0% 2.7% 2.1% 2.0% 1.5%

GARISSA 2.0% 1.2% 1.7% 1.8% 1.5% 2.1% 2.0% 2.1% 3.6%

BUNG'OMA 2.0% 1.8% 1.4% 1.6% 2.0% 2.1% 2.7% 3.0% 1.3%

NYANDARUA 2.0% 2.0% 1.8% 1.6% 2.0% 2.2% 2.4% 2.7% 1.2%

KIRINYAGA 1.6% 1.5% 1.5% 1.3% 1.7% 1.7% 1.9% 2.2% 1.1%

NYERI 1.4% 1.0% 1.0% 1.2% 1.3% 2.0% 2.1% 2.5% 0.4%

KAJIADO 0.7% 1.1% 0.9% 1.0% 0.9% 0.7% 0.4% 0.8% 0.2%

ELGEYO/M-KWT 0.6% 0.2% 0.0% 0.4% 0.5% 0.2% 0.3% 1.2% 1.7%

3.3 Transition rates

Negating the transition from primary school to work has become a main policy focus in Kenya. Our greater effort has been to encourage continued education transition across all education levels and especially transition between primary and secondary level. Transition rate in Kenya’s education system canbedefinedasthepercentageofForm1enrolmentinsecondaryschoolstothetotalnumberofpupilswhocompletedStandard8thepreviousyear.Alowtransitionratesignifieseducationwastage,asmostofthepupilswhocompleteonelevelofeducationdonotproceedtothenext.Since1991,primary to secondary school transition rate has ranged between 39 and 46 percent. The year 1993 had the lowest transition rate when only 38.40 percent of those who completed grade 8 in 1992 joinedForm1thefollowingyear.Duringthesameperiod,boyshadahighertransitionratethangirls.

DatafromtheNTA’sIndicativeFrameworkforSchoolAnnualBaselineDataindicatesanimprovedtransition rate for both boys and girls. Nationally, the number of children completing Class 8 has risentoover800,000.However,approximately30percentofprimaryschoolpupilsfailtotransittosecondary schools because secondary schooling as part of basic education is yet to be actualized. Its implementation would mean automatic progression. In this regard, it is good to note that the number of secondary schools rose to 8,197 in the year 2012 from 7,297 in 2011, a 12 per cent change vis-à-vis more than 20,404 primary schools in Kenya.

25National Taxpayers Association (NTA)

3.4 Student absenteeism

Students need to attend school daily to succeed. According to Park & Kerr (1990), researchdemonstrates that the lackofattendancewasstatisticallysignificant inexplainingwhyastudentreceived a poor grade. Kenya’s education system is based on the assumption that barring illness or anextraordinaryevent,studentsareinclasseveryweekday.Compulsoryeducationlawsbackupthis assumption. So strong is this assumption that pupil absenteeism has never been compressively measured. Because it is not measured, chronic absenteeism is not acted upon. Like bacteria in a hospital, chronic absenteeism can wreak havoc long before it is discovered. Chronic absenteeism is not the same as truancy or average daily attendance. Chronic absenteeism means missing 10 percent of a school year for any reason.

This report shows that student absenteeism in Kenya Public Primary schools is on the rise. The total number of student absences in the year 2009 was 685,755 compared to 992,114 in 2013 representing a 30 per increase in student absences as indicated in the graph below. This could as well be a pointer amongst other factors to the fact that out of the 839,759 pupil who sat for KCPE examintheyear2013,only467,353pupilsscoredabovethemeanaverageof250marksthatwillguarantee transition into secondary school.

Student absenteeism is slightly skewed towards boys than girls.

Figure6-Totalabsencesfrombetween2009-2013

26 School Report Card 2013

3.5 Annual mean scores

Most parents maintain their focus on what grades their children bring home and pay less attention onhowmuchtheirchildislearning,orhowgoodthequalityoftheirlearningexperienceis.Someparents reward children for good grades, ascribing a monetary value to each good letter, or taking awayprivilegesforeachbadone.Formanyfamilies, ‘the grade is the goal’. This report shows a relationship between low grades and dropout i.e. some children drop out of school because they are deemed as a letdown by their peers, parents or community or do not see the need of pursuing the intellectual path. Eventually we ask ourselves as parents, educationalists, researchers - What effect does handing out grades have upon the student when it comes to motivation and learning outcomes? We can look at three consistent effects of giving students grades – or leading them to focus on what gradethey’llget.First,theirinterestinthelearningitselfisdiminished.Second,theycometoprefereasier tasks – not because they’re lazy, but because they’re rational. After all, if the point is to get an A, your odds are better if you avoid taking intellectual risks. Third, students tend to think in a more superficialmanner–andtoforgetwhattheylearnedmorequickly–whengradesareinvolved.Toputit positively, our hypothesis is students who are lucky enough to be in schools (or classrooms) where theydon’tgetletterornumbergradesaremorelikelytowanttocontinueexploringwhateverthey’relearning, more likely to want to challenge themselves, and more likely to think deeply.

Thus, to promote education continuity we encourage parents to pay as much attention to how much theirchild is learningandhowgoodthequalityof theirexperience isas theydotogrades.It isimportant that teachers practice and give priority to qualitative evaluations so as to make students becomemoreenthusiasticandproficientlearnersratherthantosortchildren(decidingwho’sbeatingwhom).

We want students to “experience success and failure not as reward and punishment, but as information - Jerome Bruner.”

3.5.1 Educational outcomes from 2009 to 2012

There is a noteworthy improvement trend in the primary school education outcomes over the last 3 years in the 18 Counties sampled for both girls and boys from grade 1 to 8 as shown in the graph below. However, grade performances continue to descend as children progress up the grades especially from grade 4 where the drop is highest – by 5.06 points. We have already seen a dropout pattern from upper primary – how many of these children drop out simply because their parents feel they are inadequate in class? The drop in performance cited from upper primary can also be explainedbythepooradjustmenttoabroadercurriculum,learningthewholeday,manydifferentteachers some of whom they do not connect with and a larger problem of transition from lower classes toupperclassesthatcomeswiththeshocksofadjustmenttointensiveandextensivelearning.

27National Taxpayers Association (NTA)

Figure7-Educationaloutcomes[Grade1-8]

3.5.2 Educational outcomes at county level

Inthissectionschoolheadsindicatedthemeanscoresfortheirendoftermexamforeverysubjectand by grade category from between 2009 to 2013. Analysis of this data at the county level positions Kirinyaga County above the sampled counties with a mean grade of 49.67 out of a possible 100 for Grade 8 pupils.

These analyses also reveal a certain drop in educational attainments from grade 4 onwards in most counties. Notably, some of these counties recorded a drop of 2 points or more from grade 5 onwards, namely; Nakuru, Kitui, Kisii, Nyandarua, Kajiado, Homabay and Kajiado.

28 School Report Card 2013

Table 37 - Educational outcomes [Grade 1 to 8] - 2009 - 2013

COUNTY GRADE1 GRADE2 GRADE3 GRADE4 GRADE5 GRADE6 GRADE7 GRADE8

MEAN 50.45 51.52 51.01 45.95 46.00 46.15 46.82 49.67

KIRINYAGA 39.23 39.97 40.89 49.55 49.25 48.79 48.55 52.41

BARINGO 58.13 57.58 57.18 44.97 46.44 47.88 49.22 52.05

VIHIGA 46.62 48.86 48.24 44.11 44.94 45.58 47.17 51.38

HOMA BAY 59.64 60.16 59.16 49.14 48.98 48.82 49.25 50.69

KAJIADO 59.08 63.25 61.54 48.15 50.46 50.42 49.76 50.54

KISUMU 49.97 51.19 51.04 43.99 44.69 45.95 46.89 50.27

TAITA TAVETA 49.97 50.55 50.07 48.15 47.86 47.37 47.29 50.02

KAKAMEGA 50.03 51.38 50.51 43.48 43.59 45.22 45.66 49.97

KILIFI 54.95 56.18 56.12 48.76 47.98 47.27 47.49 49.49

BUNG'OMA 46.36 47.12 46.91 44.56 44.46 44.68 46.16 49.26

KITUI 51.51 52.88 52.05 42.99 43.4 44.38 46.03 49.15

KWALE 47.91 48.91 48.48 46.76 46.58 46.53 46.53 49.11

ELGEYO/MKWT 47.00 47.25 46.65 42.87 43.75 44.67 46.68 49.05

KISII 59.10 59.63 58.63 47.19 47.14 46.52 46.72 48.96

MARSABIT 54.21 57.5 56.22 45.9 46.64 46.84 48.29 48.83

NYANDARUA 54.07 54.98 53.87 45.09 44.92 45.08 45.50 48.62

NAKURU 61.46 62.00 61.27 47.4 46.96 46.16 46.43 47.62

GARISSA 57.19 57.77 55.95 50.39 47.65 46.34 46.63 47.41

NYERI 27.49 28.66 30.18 46.38 45.82 44.82 45.08 46.73

3.6 Total Number of school facilities constructed

The school environment plays a pivotal role in the retention of children in education system and learning outcomes. Availability of proper facilities is a pre-requisite for creating a healthy environment in a school. Provision of sanitation and water facilities contributes to the creation of a conducive environment for children in the school.

3.6.1 Sanitation

Previous research studies state that availability of toilets in the school increases enrollment . At youngerages,girlsandboysbothbenefitfromalatrineregardlessofwhetheritisunisexorsexspecific; at older ages however; separate latrines become crucial especially amongst girls. Ourendeavor has seen the number of toilets increase from 23,929 toilets in 2012 to 25,539 toilets in 2013 representing an increase of 6.7%. Parity was observed in the sampled counties in the construction of toilets for girl, boys and school staff as indicated in the graph below.

29National Taxpayers Association (NTA)

Figure8-Numberoftoiletsfrom2009to2013

However, despite the increased number of toilets for both boys and girls students are still disadvantaged as data from these schools indicate that 51 boys are sharing 1 toilet, while 45 girls share 1 toilet. This is contrary to MOEST policy which dictates that for every 23 girls there should be 1 toilet and 1 for 27 boys. A paltry 4 counties (Nandi, Kirinyaga, Nyeri and Elgeyo/Marakwet) met this obligation for boys and for girls 3 counties (Kirinyaga, Nyeri and Elgeyo/Marakwet) made the cut.

National viewpoint reveals that most of these schools fall short of the MoEST policy with just about 38 per cent of these schools having adequate toilets for both boys and girls.

Table 38 - Number of pupils sharing 1 toilet (Toilet ratio)

BOYS GIRLS

national 51 45

Garissa 96 68

Tana River 84 68

Kilifi 64 62

Kitui 67 59

Bung'oma 56 59

Homa Bay 57 54

Mandera 67 44

Kisumu 58 49

Kajiado 56 50

Kakamega 55 45

Nyandarua 48 43

BOYS GIRLS

national 51 45

Kwale 48 43

Taita Taveta 50 40

Kisii 44 41

Baringo 42 41

Nakuru 48 34

Vihiga 40 34

Marsabit 30 24

Nandi 27 25

Kirinyaga 26 20

Nyeri 23 16

Elgeyo/Marakwet 19 15

30 School Report Card 2013

3.6.2 Water

Ensuring that students have access to safe, free drinking water throughout the school day is encompassed in NTAs initiatives to create a school environment that supports health and learning. Providing access to safe drinking water helps to increase students’ overall water consumption and maintain good hydration. Besides quenching thirst, access to safe, drinking water contributes to proper hygiene as children are assured of water to clean their hands consequently reducing risks of infections related with poor hygiene and this will ensure that children will be in class and not away from school due to hygiene related illnesses. There has been a 9 per cent increase in access to free and safe water in the schools sampled from the year 2009 to 2013. Moreover, 66 per cent of these schools now have access to safe water (Piped and/or stored) in comparison to 57 per cent in 2009; of which 20 per cent is tapped water as demonstrated in the graph below.

Figure9–Supply[Accesstopipedwater]

Figure10-Accesstowater[Supply&Stored]

YEAR2009 YEAR2010 YEAR2011 YEAR2012 YEAR2013

Supply [Tapped/ Piped] 15.5% 16.2% 17.0% 17.8% 19.6%

Storage [Water tank] 41.1% 41.8% 43.5% 45.3% 46.2%

None – No clean water 43.4% 42.0% 39.6% 36.9% 34.2%

3.6.3 Relationship between availability of water in the school

and uninterrupted student attendance

In trying to understand the reason behind student absenteeism, we tested incidences of student absenteeism against availability of water. We theorized that high absenteeism is linked to unavailability of water. Indeed, schools that did not have tapped / piped water from between the year 2009 and 2013 accrued 72 per cent of all student absences as shown in the graph below. As earlier mentioned, water is the basic requirement in ensuring proper health. Lack of water would mean our children will fall ill quite often due to disease associated with poor hygiene and consequently accrue many sickdays.Fromthisdata,itisquiteevidentthatourschoolsneedwaterasanassuranceofregular

31National Taxpayers Association (NTA)

student class attendance.

Figure11-Totalabsencesdisaggregatedbyavailabilityoftappedwater

3.7 Numbers of teachers

There is an increasing trend in the number of teachers enlisted in public primary schools. The number of male teachers increased from 9,256 in 2010 to 9,855 in 2013 representing a 6 per cent increase, while females increased from 9,523 in 2010 to 10,244 in 2013 representing a 7 per cent increase).

Figure12-Numberofteachersfrombetween2010to2013

32 School Report Card 2013

3.7.1 Teacher-Pupil Ratio

Theteacher-pupilratiomeasuresthenumberofstudentsperteacher.Itreflectsteacherworkloadand the availability of teachers’ services to their students. The lower the teacher-pupil ratio, the higher the availability of teacher services to students. The teacher-pupil ratio has implications not only for the cost of education, but also for the quality. In crowded classrooms with a high number of pupilsperteacherthequalityofeducationsuffers.Itisdifficultforpupilstofollowthecourseandteachers can dedicate less time to the needs of each individual student.

The teacher-pupil ratio is not the same as class size, however the relationship between these two measures of teacher workload is affected by a variety of factors, including the number of classes for which a teacher is responsible and the number of classes taken by the pupil.

According to this data, the average class size is pegged at 40 pupils. However, majority of our classrooms (45 per cent) had over 40 pupils in each class in the year 2013; 41 per cent had between 20-40 pupils and only 14 per cent below 20 pupils. Though the MOEST standards peg the classroom size at 45, this is contrary to international standards which dictate for an average class size of 35 pupils.

Figure13–Thenumberofpupilsinclasses[2013]

33National Taxpayers Association (NTA)

3.7.2 Hypothesis test: Relationship between teacher: pupil

ratio and learning outcomes

Pupils seemingly are not adversely affected by classroom occupancy when it comes to their K.C.P.E performance especially boys. However, girls are performing better in less populated classrooms. SignificantlytheK.C.P.Eimprovementtrendisgreaterinclassroomswithlesserpopulationthanthereverse as shown in the table below.

Table 39 - Teacher: Pupil ratio vs K.C.P.E Outcomes

Teacher-Pupil ratio

3 yearAverage

2009 2010 2011 2012

Points improvement (2012 from

2009)BOYS GIRLS BOYS GIRLS BOYS GIRLS BOYS GIRLS BOYS GIRLS BOYS GIRLS

1:20 and< 230 227 224 218 224 218 221 220 230 227 6.54 9.64

1:21-40 233 234 230 225 229 225 227 224 233 234 2.46 9.60

1: 41 + 235 226 229 224 227 220 228 222 235 226 5.37 2.39

Total 233 230 229 223 227 222 227 223 233 230 4.28 6.32

3.8 School development plan

School Improvement Programmes (SIP) is meant to strengthen the quality of teaching and plan forresourcesinschools.Teachersbenefitfromthetrainingworkshopsandresourcecentressetupunder these programmes. SIPs are helping teachers to teach more creatively and children to learn faster through the introduction of child-centred activities. They involve working hand in hand with governments while involving parents and communities in management in order to make schools moreefficient,effectiveandsustainable.

Favorablymajorityoftheseschools(94percent)hadaschoolSDP/SIP.However,asshowninthetable below, schools sampled from Mandera County did not have SDP/SIP while all the schools in Kajiado, Marsabit and Tana River counties had SDP/SIP

34 School Report Card 2013

Table 40 - Proportions of schools that had SDP/SIP

COUNTYSCHOOL HAVE SDP/SIP

TOTALYES NO SDP/SIP

BARINGO 90.9% 9.1% 100.0%

BUNG'OMA 93.6% 6.4% 100.0%

ELGEYO/MARAKWET 60.0% 40.0% 100.0%

GARISSA 75.0% 25.0% 100.0%

HOMA BAY 98.1% 1.9% 100.0%

KAJIADO 100.0% - 100.0%

KAKAMEGA 89.5% 10.5% 100.0%

KILIFI 95.2% 4.8% 100.0%

KIRINYAGA 95.7% 4.3% 100.0%

KISII 91.8% 8.2% 100.0%

KISUMU 94.1% 5.9% 100.0%

KITUI 95.8% 4.2% 100.0%

KWALE 93.3% 6.7% 100.0%

MANDERA - 100.0% 100.0%

MARSABIT 100.0% 100.0%

NAKURU 95.6% 4.4% 100.0%

NANDI 100.0% 100.0%

NYANDARUA 94.2% 5.8% 100.0%

NYERI 87.5% 12.5% 100.0%

TAITA TAVETA 91.1% 8.9% 100.0%

TANA RIVER 100.0% - 100.0%

VIHIGA 96.1% 3.9% 100.0%

Total 93.7% 6.3% 100.0%

3.8.1 Relationship between un/availability of SDP/SIP and

K.C.P.E outcomes

This data indicates a strong relationship between availability of SDP/ SIP in the schools programmes and improved K.C.P.E performance. As shown in the table below, both boys and girls from schools with SDP/SIP programmes performed considerably better than their counterparts emanating from schools without SDP/SIP.

35National Taxpayers Association (NTA)

Table 41 - Relationship between un/availability of SDP/SIP and K.C.P.E outcomesBOYS K.C.P.E SCORES 2012 GIRLS K.C.P.E SCORES 2012

YES school has SDP/ SIP 236.22 231.19

No SDP/SIP 228.21 223.43

Total 235.75 230.73

Variation 8.01 7.76

3.9 Proportions of schools that had enrolled physically challenged

pupils

Half of these schools (51 per cent) had pupils who had physical challenges. On average these schools had enrolled 10 children with physical challenges which represent 1 per cent of all enrolled pupils nationally. Significantly, all sampled counties reported having children with physical difficulties.However, from the educational point of view, not all pupils with physical disabilities require special school provisions. There may be variations in duration or severity among physical disabilities. In other words, the handicapping conditions may be temporary or permanent and mild or severe. Physically handicapped children may be multiply handicapped with; mental handicap, visual or hearing impairment.

While it is well articulated in the constitution of Kenya as entitlement by persons with disability, pupils who are physically challenged in most of these schools face surmounting challenges like; classrooms, desks and toilets that are not friendly to person’s with physical disability. The situation is even worrying when it comes to competing with their ordinary colleagues because of limited or lack of access to materials and devices to overcome constraints arising from the person’s disability.

36 School Report Card 2013

Table 42 - Proportions of schools with physically challenged pupils

COUNTYPercentage of

pupils with physical

challenges

Number of physically challenged

Total Average/ school

BARINGO 0.4% 65 4.64

BUNG'OMA 1.3% 1173 12.22

ELGEYO/MARAKWET 0.4% 7 2.33

GARISSA 1.4% 203 15.62

HOMA BAY 1.7% 696 7.82

KAJIADO 0.3% 27 3.86

KAKAMEGA 2.0% 1015 16.37

KILIFI 2.6% 1042 20.84

KIRINYAGA 0.6% 226 5.26

KISII 2.7% 1203 17.43

KISUMU 2.1% 827 11.99

KITUI 0.8% 797 6.33

KWALE 0.6% 294 4.90

MANDERA 1.6% 10 10.00

MARSABIT 0.7% 46 7.67

NAKURU 0.5% 213 5.92

NANDI 0.2% 7 3.50

NYANDARUA 1.0% 826 9.60

NYERI 0.7% 157 3.92

TAITA TAVETA 1.2% 592 8.84

TANA RIVER 0.3% 11 2.20

VIHIGA 0.8% 494 5.55

Total 1.2% 9931 9.61

37National Taxpayers Association (NTA)

4 Perceptions pertaining FPE grant amount – KES 1,020

The cost of living in Kenya has doubled over the last 10 years and accordingly, the cost of running schoolswhichmustnowbedifferentfromwhatitwaswhentheFPEProgrammelaunchedbackin2003.

Alltheschoolssampledexcludingone,lamentedthattheFPEgrantofKES1,020perchildperyearwasinsufficient.

4.1 Received proposals from schools on sufficient FPE amount

AthirdoftheseschoolsfeltthatKES3,000perchildwouldsufficeintheproperrunningofschools.The highest proposal received was KES 15,000 per child, which was mentioned by 5 schools; and the lowestwasKES2,000whichisnearly100%ofthecurrentFPEgrantasillustratedinthetablebelow.

Table43-ProposedFPEGrant

Statistic Description Proposals in KES

Mean Average amount 3,384.78

Median Middle value in the list of figures proposed 3,000.00

Mode Most occurring figure 3,000.00

Range Difference between the largest and smallest values 13,000.00

Minimum Lowest figure proposed 2,000.00

Maximum Highest figure proposed 15,000.00

4.2 County analysis

WithanaverageofKES3,712perchild,FPEgrantproposalsreceivedfromschools fromKisumuCounty were the highest followed by Kwale (KES 3,676) and Vihiga (KES 3,650) in that order. While the lowest average proposals per school was received from Baringo County at (KES 2,579).

Table44-ProposedFPEGrantatcountylevel

COUNTYPROPOSED FPE GRANT

[MEAN – KES ]

KISUMU 3,712

KWALE 3,676

VIHIGA 3,650

KIRINYAGA 3,646

KISII 3,629

KAKAMEGA 3,536

KILIFI 3,534

HOMA BAY 3,466

MARSABIT 3,458

NYANDARUA 3,389

NYERI 3,364

COUNTYPROPOSED FPE GRANT

[MEAN – KES ]

TAITA TAVETA 3,295

BUNG'OMA 3,281

NAKURU 3,244

ELGEYO/MARAKWET 3,183

KAJIADO 3,083

NANDI 3,055

GARISSA 3,046

KITUI 3,014

MANDERA 3,000

TANA RIVER 2,917

BARINGO 2,579

Total 3,385

38 School Report Card 2013

5 Conclusions

ThisreporthasdemonstratedthesignificanceoftheSchoolReportCardProject inenhancingtherelationship amongst pupils, teachers and parents. This unison is proving vital in the successful management and administration of schools, holistic pupil performance and general well-being of pupil that is ultimately bringing out better learning outcomes as cited in the gradual improvements of student performance in all grades over the last 4 years.

The School Report Card has envisioned the immense positive impact of hands-on parental inclusion in improving quality of education in the schools and consequently learning outcomes for children. In this regard, it is indeed encouraging to see that parents are motivated and this is manifested by the gradual but steady increase in the number of participating parents and improved self-ratings for SRC by parents themselves.

The causal relationship cited in the last phase of this project between practical parental inclusion and better student outcomes is now more ostensible, meaning that this hypothesis is no longer a theory butindeedfactual.Sinceparentsareapparentlyplayingapivotalroleinthisexerciseitiscrucialthatwe continue apportioning them the necessary support in an attempt to encourage them to participate more in the education of children as dictated by the new Basic education Act.

Thisreportshowsavariationof issuesaffectingdifferentcounties indifferentways.For instancethe high dropout in Taita Taveta county amongst boys whereas the same is not widespread amongst the girl child. Similarly, this report has outlined relationships between SRC categories and K.C.P.E outcomes. According to this report SRC category 1 ‘school safety and protection’ with 0.71 Pearsons correlation score is strongly linked to K.C.P.E results meaning this category is principal to the performance of students during K.C.P.E at a National level. However, devolution has given forth to county governments and each county must adopt its own priorities in improving education in each county.

Last but not least, it is good to point out that there were improvements across the board at the national level and this is down to the greater efforts and diverse intervention of all the education stakeholders to whom we applaud and encourage not be daunted but keep the spirit going stronger and stronger.

39National Taxpayers Association (NTA)

6 Recommendations

1. SRC processes must embrace local dialects

A formal review of the collected SRC forms completed by parents articulates that some parents especially from rural set-ups are not fully conversant with the SRC project. These parents probably findtheprojecttobetoointellectualandmaybeinadequatetobeinvolvedandthusshunthewholeexercise.Thisisexemplifiedbythehighincidenceofabsenteeparentsaftertheinitialmeetingtotrainand recruit SRC committee members. It is therefore commendable that local ways of communication areadoptedatthecommunitylevelbyforexampletranslatingtheSRCtoKiswahiligoingforward,especial in rural set-ups. This approach would in most cases improve the number of parents engaged with the SRC project and catapult their participation.

2. Launch media campaigns to supplement SRC awareness

The success stories in this project are centered on parental inclusion in the education of children. Thatis,themoreparentsareinvolvedinthisregard,thebettertheresultswecanexpectbothattheadministrative level and the learning outcomes. We therefore must reach out to more parents and the entire school community inorder to encourage them to fully participate in the education of the children through this enterprise (or individually) by use of available media vehicles and tools.

3. Measure and address student absenteeism

As revealed in this report, absenteeism is on the rise in most counties. Pupil school attendance on a regular basis matters. It matters the most for the most vulnerable students who live in or near poverty. A number of students are currently missing far too much lesson time, with multiple detrimentaleffects.Disturbingly,chronicabsenteeismisthefirstindicatorofeventualchilddropout.A major reason this occurs, is because few schools routinely measure absenteeism. Because chronic absenteeism is not measured, it cannot be monitored or acted upon. The good news is, if we do measureandmonitorabsenteeism,thereisquiteabitthatcanbedonetoimproveitwithexistingresources. Thus, as a nation we must act in a bid to ensuring that our students are ready, willing and able to attend school every day. One way to promote unwavering school pupil attendance is awarding incentives(points)forregularattendance.Forinstance,themaximumpassmarkforpupilsinschoolbasedexamsshouldbepeggedat80outofapossible100whereasapupilwhohasbeenattendingschool regularly can additionally be awarded 20 per cent. Their future, and hence our future, depends on it.

4. County Education Board should embrace this report on a national scale and county level

This report reveals the divergence of issues affecting schools at the county level and especially variation between boys and girls. It is therefore best suited if counties prioritize and concentrate on thespecificissuesthatareaffectingtheirrespectivecounties.Onlythencanwehavetheopportunitytoexhaustivelyimplementchangeatthecountylevelandconsequentlyscalethesameuptothenational level.

5. Continuance of the SRC vital

The progress and successes outlined in this report are considerably owed to the efforts made by the School Report Card which has managed to unite all key education stakeholders and provided us with a tool that can be used towards a common goal. It is therefore imperative that this project is employed persistently so as to establish long, medium and short-term trends to inform new policy developments in education at the county level and national level.

40 School Report Card 2013

For further information, contact;National Taxpayers Association

Riara Gardens, Off Riara Road,P.O. Box 4037 - 00506, Nairobi, Kenya

Tel: +254 20 3861813-4 Cell: +254 734 500 940Email: [email protected]: www.nta.or.ke

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