Education

Public spending on education was 6.9% of GDP in 2005. There are eight years of compulsory education starting at age six. Net enrolment ratios are 76% for primary and 42% for secondary, and gross enrolment ratio for all levels combined 60% (2006). The pupil-teacher ratio for primary is 40:1 and for secondary 32:1 (2005). The school year starts in January.

About 3% of the relevant age group is enrolled in tertiary education (2005). Among the many higher education institutions are the University of Nairobi, Kenyatta University, Moi University (in Eldoret since 1984), Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (in Juja since 1994), Egerton University (Njoro, Nakuru); and a growing number of private universities. Illiteracy among people aged 15-24 is 19.7% (2006).

The government is committed to providing good quality education to all of Kenya's citizens and works in close partnership with NGOs in delivering education and training facilities for special-needs children.

The National ICT Strategy for Education and Training comprises e-government, management information systems and e-learning. It aims to arm education managers and planners with timely data and to ensure that teachers and students have ICT appropriate to the learning process.

The ministry, with the support of the Kenya ICT Trust Fund, has set up national and regional ICT support centres, mostly in the polytechnics and universities, to provide telephone or online technical support to schools.