Quality and quantity trade off in education - a mirage in KENYA

Education policies in Kenya are based on the philosophy spelt out in Sessional Paper No. 10 of 1964 on African Socialism and its Application to Planning in Kenya. The thrust of the Jomtien Conference of 1990 was that all children, young people and adults have the fundamental right to benefit from an education that would meet their basic learning needs. The Dakar Conference in Senegal in 2000 obliged all countries of Africa to achieve education for all by the year 2015. One of its principal goals aimed at improving all aspects of quality of education so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all. To respond to this urge, the growth in the number of schools, colleges and universities, both public and private, has been on the increase to absorb the growing number of learners. In universities evening classes have become a beehive activity similar to tuition in primary and secondary schools. However, many students continue to miss form one and university places in Kenya due to lack of fees and adequate classrooms. Quality education is the degree of achievement in education as evidenced by performance in national examinations, transition from one level of education to the next and retention in the education system. It is influenced by factors such as the quality of student intake, physical facilities, teachers, the curriculum, availability of textbooks, good discipline and the financing of education. Poor performance is a result of low quality of education and has been blamed on poor teaching methods, absenteeism among students and teachers, irrelevance of the curriculum and the inadequacy of the examination system itself. The questions that arise include: What is the optimum level of the quality-quantity trade off? Is it achievable in Kenya?