Gender and Education in Kenya by Esther Mukewa Lisanza

Author:Esther Mukewa Lisanza
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781793634931
Publisher: Lexington Books

Part 2

Girls’ Education, Leadership, and Blindness

Chapter 5

Learning from What Has Worked in Women School Leadership and Girls’ Education in Kenya

Damaris Choti

Gender-related issues have created a gap in the attainment of education between boys and girls in Kenya and other developing countries (Sperling et al., 2016). Despite the educational policies proposed to increase the visibility and inclusion of women and girls in education, women underrepresentation in education and in school leadership persists in Kenya. Since the 2003 introduction of Free Primary Education in Kenya, and Free Day Secondary School Education in 2008, the enrollment and retention rates for both boys and girls in primary schools have increased significantly. The Kenya Ministry of Education Strategic Plan (2019) reports that in 2013, Primary School enrolment was 5 million for boys and 4.8 million for girls. In 2018, the enrolment rose to 5.3 million and 5.1 million, respectively. Secondary School enrolments equally went up for the period 2013–2018 from 1.1 million to 1.5 million for males and 967,000 to 1.4 million for females. Evidently, the gender gap in primary and secondary school enrolment was substantially reduced by 2018. According to Sperling et al. (2016), a similar trend was reported in other African countries including Uganda, Tanzania, and Malawi. This was also due to the introduction of free schooling policies in these countries.

Although girls’ enrolment has increased in primary and secondary schools, Kenya is among the countries with low rates of girls’ enrolment relative to the global average (Sperling et al., 2016). Regardless of the increase in secondary school enrolment in 2013–2018, access to secondary school education is still low especially for girls in arid and semi-arid regions. Besides, increased primary and secondary school enrolments have not translated to increased enrolment and retention rates in post-secondary education. Majority of girls do not complete secondary school education or proceed to higher education (Sifuna, 2006). The disconnect in the transition of girls from primary and secondary school to higher education implies that there is more into the problem of low educational attainment for girls and women than making schools accessible and affordable to girls.

To better understand and respond to the issue of girls and women underrepresentation in education and leadership in Kenya, I argue that it is important to adapt strategies that have worked in the past. An example of this is the support systems that successful Kenyan women leaders have used to navigate their way through education and leadership amid several obstacles. Such an approach will identify solutions to the underrepresentation of girls and women in education and leadership in Kenya. In this chapter, I apply gender socialization framework to discuss support systems that have been used by three Kenyan women to succeed in their education and leadership. The data I used are from a field study that sought to understand the pathways of successful Kenyan women school principals. This chapter analyzes the significance of using models of success to inform efforts geared toward promoting girls’ education and women’s ascension to leadership in Kenya. The chapter

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