GirlChild: Kenya has Achieved Gender Parity in Education What Next?

Kenya has almost achieved total gender parity in education and aims to achieve a 100 percent transition from primary to secondary school by providing free education.

However, much more needs to be done to integrate gender issues into all aspects of policy and planning, not just in education but in all sectors.

Education Cabinet secretary Fred Matiang’i during the release of this year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination results at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) Matiang’i said out of the 993,718 candidates who sat the 2017 KCPE examination, 498,775 were boys while 94,943 were girls.

“The gender gap between boys and girls in this year’s KCPE exams is almost at par: a total of 993,718 candidates sat the 2017 KCPE examination; Of these, 498,775 (50.19%) were boys and 494,943 (49.81%) girls. In the 2016 KCPE, 942,021 candidates sat the examination,” he said.

Matiangi pointed out that the percentage increase in the number of female candidates (5.64%) was higher than that of male candidates (5.34%) in the 2017 KCPE examination.

He said an analysis of candidature trends by gender in the last four years indicates that the percentage increase in the number of girls has consistently been higher than that of boys over this period.

27 counties registered more female than male candidates as opposed to 23 in the 2016 KCPE. Some of the counties listed include Kakamega, Meru, Bungoma, Nairobi, Embu, Machakos, Kisii, Kitui, Makueni, Siaya, Busia, Nyamira, Tharaka Nithi and Kisumu .

However, a recent survey by the Afrobarometer reports that Kenyans see gains in gender equality, but support for women’s empowerment still uneven.

“Although there are gains in gender equality in Kenya, the support for women’s empowerment is still uneven and this undermines many programmes aimed at integrating the principle of gender inclusion in development agendas and policy dialogues,” says Prof Winnie Mitullah, associate research professor and director at the Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi.

In the survey led by the Institute for Development Studies at the University of Nairobi, interviewed 1,599 adult Kenyans in September-October 2016, 73 per cent of Kenyans say women should have the same chance as men of being elected to office when it gets down to the ballot the country falls flat.

This is the case in spite of most Kenyans saying gender equality already exists due to a level education ground.

At least 92 per cent and 90 percent of respondents say girls and boys have an equal chance in primary education and secondary education respectively. About eight in 10 affirm that women have the same chance as men to earn an income.

To a girl, education holds the key to unlocking many of their obstacles facing them. However, ensuring completion of education by girls is still a challenge due to dropout rates as a result of teenage pregnancies, early marriages, and negative social-cultural attitudes

Further, ensuring that girls in Kenya reach their potential, it is critical to address issues that relate to sexual and reproductive health.

Kenya treats education as a basic need by the Government and is committed to the position of equal education opportunities for all persons.

Policy solutions the government has put in place to achieve gender equality include: The Children’s’ Act provides for the rights of all children as are provided for in the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the African Charter. Key among them include :

The inherent right to life. The Government and the family have the responsibility of ensuring the survival and development of every child.

Right to Education- Every child is entitled to free and compulso