Kenya's digital technology advancements--chief among them the mobile money transfer application referred to as Mpesa--has led to the country's status as an emerging digital economy. However, the long strides in the move toward a fully-fledged digital economy are not reflected in the digital technology workforce with regard to gender balance. While…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine one rural Kenyan community's attempts to improve the educational attainment for primary school girls in the region. Data were gathered through field notes; school artifacts; and interviews with teachers, community members, and grade eight girls. The asset-building theory of change (social,…

Since women struggled to access higher education during the colonial era, tackling gender imbalances post-independence became a major focus for Kenya and South Africa. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that affirmative action has not guaranteed gender equity in South African and Kenyan higher education systems. the author argues that,…

The health emergency has stress-tested the education systems. What has been learned from the experience? And how can that be applied to lessons while seeking to ensure that 'building back better' is an evidence-informed undertaking? In this report, the authors identify ten lessons from the crisis of 2020-2021 that should be used to inform planning…

Higher education is a key factor in a nation's effort to develop a highly skilled workforce for competing in the global economy. In this paper, current trends in accessibility, equity, participation and financing of higher education in Kenya are examined. The paper explores the challenges which need to be confronted and discusses the way forward…

The underrepresentation of girls in schools is a serious problem in many parts of the world and a serious one in Africa especially. In the wake of today's occurrences among them women becoming breadwinners because of incidences like divorce, education of girls is being considered equally important in any society in order to make them self-reliant.…

The educational challenges girls face are often explained by economics. However, gender norms and identities, constructed historically but subject to change, also play a crucial role. In Kenya, little attention has been paid to the negative social constructions that keep girls from attaining the education they want. This article analyses the role…

This article argues that the role of education within the gender-poverty debate needs to be reconceptualised. It stresses the importance of conceptualising the gender-education-poverty nexus as a cluster of complex interactive combinations and bonds in which education outcomes are shaped by, and shape, both poverty and gender. The aim of the paper…

Forty-five years have passed since Kenya gained independence and almost 30 years since the feminist revolution ushered in a global gender and development agenda. While Kenya's development agenda had a functionalist orientation aimed at modernisation, the outcome of efforts to promote education development cannot be understood without an…

This paper reconsiders urban-rural and modern-traditional dichotomies by exploring the multiple and contested gendered issues that secondary school girls face in rural Kisii, Western Kenya. Findings are drawn from a qualitative case study and explore the ways that gendered norms interact with new ideas of gender equity in and out of the classroom.…

Children's adaptive preference and capabilities are considered in relation to literature on children's voice, agency and adult adaptation. Data collected for projects on gender and schooling in South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria are analysed to show how adaptation and distinctions between absolute and relative poverty are helpful in…

This paper discusses barriers to the participation of women with disabilities in Kenyan university education. While studies have shown that students with disabilities are increasingly enrolling in and completing university education, the number of women with disabilities in higher education remains low. This paper highlights the factors that…

This article discusses the denial of access to education to Ismaili Muslim women in colonial Kenya during the 1890s and the 1960s. The Ismailis were part of the "Asians" in Africa, a working class, religious, Muslim immigrant group from India, circumscribed by poverty and a traditional culture, the orthodox elements of which, with regard…

This article reviews the evolution of education policies in the East African region in a historical context. The focus is on the formulation of policies for access to primary and secondary education in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania since their independence in the 1960s. The three countries have common characteristics and historical backgrounds. For…

This booklet focuses on educating girls and women. The main issues include gender gap and its persistence in education. The reasons for this persistence include poverty, distance of schools, non-availability of gender segregated schools, absence of female teachers, inflexible school timing, and irrelevant and gender-insensitive curriculum. It is…