Poor Student-Teacher Ratio Affecting Learning Outcomes Across Kenya

Many factors determine the learning outcomes of a child’s education, and one of them is the student-teacher ratio. This is often overlooked but it has a significant factor that affects the quality of learning in any school.

Sadly, some schools cannot give each child the maximum teacher-learner contact time. In some counties across Kenya, many schools with a reasonably high enrollment are run by very few teachers. This implies that the teachers are overworked as learners receive little learning due to a lack of enough teachers.

The recently released Uwezo Assessment Report by Usawa Agenda showed that since 2015, the teacher-classroom ratio is on the decline. The distribution of teachers by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) across the country is skewed ranging from 5 teachers for a school with 10 classes in Mandera to 10 teachers for a school with 10 classes in Nyandarua.

It is evident that some parts of the country, especially those ravaged by droughts and bandit attacks in northern parts do not have enough teachers. Educational stakeholders have always raised concern over the inequality of teacher distribution in the country, but there is still the least effort to deploy enough teachers to these areas.

Apart from the inadequate classrooms, the number of teachers in some schools is way below the national or international best practices of teacher-to-pupil ratio.

In 2020, one of the Kenyan news outlets ran a publication that stated the student-teacher ratio in the North Eastern Province (NEP) is 70:1 against the recommended Kenyan ratio of 40:1.

This couldn’t be further from the truth, and it also means that the teachers are managing a class of over 30 students more than the required standard. The prevailing shortage of teachers across the country, especially in the public sector, will continue to heavily affect the quality of teaching and learning even as the outcomes are already worse.

Overcrowding of classrooms is a challenge that results in limited one on one interaction with students. A large number of students can be disruptive and difficult to handle for teachers allocated.  In the long run, a large number of learners to teacher ratio also makes the identification of the pupils with learning disabilities difficult and this results in lower grades and increased inequalities among the learners.

In response to these challenges, the government implemented various strategic actions that include resolving the challenge of student-teacher ratios by recruiting teachers on a contract basis and institutionalizing an internship program for teachers.

This is supported by the Uwezo National Learning Assessment Report which indicated that 5 in 100 teachers in schools are interns, whereas 2 in 10 teachers are employed by parents through Boards of management (BOM). The findings further reported that 8 in 10 teachers in schools are employed by TSC.

It is worth noting that schools in rural areas face a more acute shortage of teachers than urban areas. Nationally, for every school with 10 classrooms that require teachers, TSC has posted 8 teachers. In urban areas, for every school with 10 classrooms that require teachers, TSC has posted 9 teachers.

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The cause of the shortage of teachers in some parts of the country and the overcrowding of pupils can be attributed to the introduction of free primary education in 2003. The government wanted to ensure all Kenyans access school without paying school fees. The move undoubtedly increased enrollment in many schools across the country.

Even today, as more children continue joining various schools, it is only sad that the same is happening in already overstretched schools that don’t have enough resources or facilities to meet the growing demand.

For Kenya to solve the issue of teacher shortage, it should learn from countries that have managed to address the problem of overcrowding. It should set out safety standards for schools to ensure learners are not exposed to otherwise avoidable risks of missing teachers in school.

These standards must be better enforced and monitored to ensure compliance. The government must also work more closely with school administrators and communities to explore potential solutions given their understanding of the local contexts and needs.

Various steps have been taken to expand existing infrastructure and build new schools. But this hasn’t had much impact. For example, between 2012 and 2016, the number of public primary schools grew by just 13 percent to 22,945. By comparison, private schools grew by 64.5 percent. Public schools aren’t growing fast enough for the millions of students that need them.

Bolder efforts that engage development partners and education stakeholders must be enhanced to expand quality access to education. Private schools play a critical role in bridging the supply gap, hence reducing overcrowding. While this could help reduce overcrowding in some areas, it only benefits those that can afford it.

The government must therefore ensure that it can provide quality public education to all. Among the urban poor, low-fee private schools can be used due to the excessive public school demand and concerns over quality.