FACTORS AFFECTING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION IN SEMI-ARID AREAS OF KENYA: THE CASE OF GARISSA COUNTY

FACTORS AFFECTING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION IN SEMI-ARID AREAS OF KENYA: THE CASE OF GARISSA COUNTY 1 Salah M. Egueh & 2 Dr. Agnes P. Zani 1 Post Graduate Researcher, University of Nairobi, Department of Sociology and Social Work. 2 Lecturer, University of Nairobi, Department of Sociology and Social Work. Email: 1 daganeh@hotmail.com, 2 apzani@yahoo.com Abstract The high enrolment rate that followed the introduction of free primary education in Kenya in 2003 brought insurmountable challenges which are yet to be resolved 10 years later. Pupils in North Eastern Province not only face a shortage of schools, classrooms, teachers, and learning materials common to most schools across the country, but have also to contend with cultural and environmental challenges that slow the implementation of free primary education in the province. This paper provides an overview of the current status of primary education in Garissa County in North Eastern Province and examines the factors hindering the implementation of Universal Primary Education (UPE) in the county. The role of culture and religion in the implementation of UPE is explored. This study is guided by human capital theory and capital theory of school effectiveness and improvement. It uses survey research to collect quantitative and qualitative data from 90 respondents comprising head teachers, teachers, pupils, out of school children, parents, district education officers, district officer and education sponsors. Stratified random sampling and purposive sampling were employed to select schools and respondents. The results indicated that lack of finance, family support, early marriages, drug abuse, inadequate school facilities, nomadic life style, harsh climatic conditions, poor infrastructure, cultural values like female genital mutilation and preference for boy child education, high illiteracy level among parents, and distance to school are some of the factors that hinder the implementation of UPE in the county. Keywords: Universal Primary Education, Free Primary Education, Cultural Factors, Environmental Factors, Religion, Garissa County Introduction The government of Kenya has since the introduction of the free primary education (FPE) in 2003 remained optimistic that it shall implement Universal Primary Education (UPE) by 2015 in fulfillment of the United Nations Millennium Development Goal on education. The prospect of achieving this objective is however threatened by the cultures and the living conditions of the people living in the arid and semi-arid lands of northern Kenya. Though all the data on the factors that may hinder the implementation of UPE in all the counties in this ecological zone is yet to be aggregated, the situation in Garissa County which forms the basis of this paper, indicate that the country is far behind schedule of achieving this objective. When the FPE programme commenced in Kenya ten years ago the responses in all parts of the country were overwhelming and enrollment of pupils rose from 6.0 million in 2002 to 7.2 million in 2003. The Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) went up from 88.2 percent in 2002 to 102.6 percent in 2003. On 61

average the Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) also increased from 77.3 percent in 2002 to 92.5 percent in 2008. But the NER for North Eastern Province was however only 25.5 percent out of 92.9 percent recorded nationally in 2009 (GOK 2009). And according to Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey of 2005/06 over a third of the school aged population in North Eastern Province never attended schools (KIHBS 2006). Further the completion and transition rates increased in all provinces with the exception of Nairobi and North Eastern provinces with the latter recording high dropout rates in the period. The national primary completion rate (PCR) increased from 62.8 percent in 2002 to 81.0 percent in 2007 but decreased to 79.5 percent in 2008. Nairobi and North Eastern Province registered the lowest (PCR) of 55.4 percent and 36.5 percent respectively (GOK and UNDP 2010). Thus 63.5 percent of those who enrolled in primary schools in North Eastern Province dropped out from schools before they completed their primary education. The statistic is even more alarming when we take gender into consideration because only 22.5 percent of girls and 51.1 percent boys completed primary education in North Eastern Province compared to the national average of 79.5 percent (GOK and UNDP 2010). And this is notwithstanding the fact that gender parity in education in North Eastern Province stands at 0.51 meaning that there are only 51 girls for every 100 boys enrolled in schools (Institute of Economic Affairs 2008). In 2007 the primary school-age children in North Eastern province were 249,408 and this number is expected to go up to 371,000 by 2015. Total primary school enrolment is expected to rise from 101,684 pupils in 2007 to 211,742 by 2015 (GOK 2011). From these statistics, 159,258 children are expected to be out of schools by 2015 making it impossible to achieve UPE by 2015. Many internal and external factors have negatively influenced the implementation of UPE in North Eastern Province. Poverty and child labour greatly contribute to low enrolment and high dropout of pupils in the area. In 2007 the poverty incidence in the province stood at 73.9 percent and played a big role in keeping children out of school (Republic of Kenya 2010). A 2002 government report indicated that girls in both rural and urban areas of the province undertake household chores such as fetching firewood and taking care of the sick while boys engage in informal works such as donkey driving, car wash, shoe shine and vending instead of going to school. Similarly negative attitude towards education, parental ignorance, cultural, religious and traditional beliefs all contribute to poor enrolment and retention of pupils in schools (GOK 2009). The periodic drought and lack of water have not spared the implementation of UPE in North Eastern Province. Every year many primary school pupils leave schools and migrate to the neighboring countries in search of water and pasture for animals. In 2011 alone more than 5480 pupils from Garissa County dropped out of primary school to accompany their parents to the neighboring countries in search of water and pasture for their livestock while many others moved to the urban areas and refugee camps in Daadab after losing their animals (Province Education Office 2011). Primary education in the province is also hindered by lack of adequate learning facilities like classrooms, desks, text books and transport. Lack of teachers also contributes to the withdrawal of many children from schools in the rural areas. The pupils teacher ratio (PTR) in North Eastern in 2007 was 62:1 which was higher than the national PTR average of 43:1. The PTR for public primary schools was 74:1 in Mandera, 61:1 in Ijara, 60:1 in Garissa and 53:1 in Wajir (GOK 2011). And owing to insecurity the locations of schools also play a role in determining the number of girls who remain in school to the end. Additionally the pupil toilet ratio (PTOR) is 64:1 for girls and 42:1 for boys compared to the government guideline of 25:1 for girls and 30:1 for boys (GOK 2011). This creates a hostile 62

environment for pupils, further increasing the dropout rates for girls. A study carried out by Kenyan Integrated Household Budget Survey in 2005 confirms these statistics when it states that 58.1 percent of school going age children said they were out of school because of the refusal by their parents, 20 percent attributed it poor conditions, 15 percent said they were busy helping their families eke a living and a further 20 percent could not enroll because schools were too far away (KIHBS 2005). This study relied on human capital theory and capital theory of school effectiveness and improvement to investigate the factors affecting the implementation of UPE in public primary schools in Garissa County. Human capital theory assumes that FPE is the tool for poverty reduction and enhances the income status of societies by improving the knowledge and the talents of the people. The study employed this theory because the profit of UPE is not meant to benefit the recipient only but the whole community since education is a tool for poverty eradication and community development. The capital theory of school effectiveness and improvement was employed to carry out an overview of the current status of public primary schools in Garissa County and evaluate their capacity to achieve UPE by 2015. Table 1: Sample Size The study specifically sought to provide an overview of the current status of universal primary education, examine factors hindering the implementation of universal primary education, and explore the role of and culture and religion in the context of the implementation of universal primary education in Garissa County. Methodology Purposive sampling was used to select 15 out of 78 public primary schools in Dujis and Lagdera constituencies of Garissa County. The target population comprised pupils, head teachers, teachers, community members, out of school children, government officers, and education sponsors in the county. The study used stratified sampling to select 30 pupils (1 male and 1 female from each school) and 10 out of school going age children. Purposive sampling was also used to select 5 female and 10 male teachers, 15 public primary school head teachers, 10 community members, 4 district education officers and inspectors, 2 district officers and 4 respondents from the international organizations that sponsor education in the area. The total unit of observation was 90 respondents. Respondents Number Percentage Pupils 30 33% Head teachers 15 17% Teachers 15 17% Community members 10 11% Out of school children 10 11% DEO and inspectors 4 4.4% 63

District officers 2 2.2% Education sponsors 4 4.4% Total 90 100% Source: Research 2012 Data Collection Methods The study used both qualitative and quantitative research approaches to collect data. It employed both structured (close-ended) and unstructured (open-ended) questions to gather primary data on the status of the school physical facilities and learning materials, enrollment, dropout rate, completion and transition rates, gender balance and external factors affecting the implementation of universal primary education in schools. The role played by religion and culture on implementation of FPE was also investigated. Secondary data was obtained from books, previous research, records from the ministries of education and that of planning and national development records, district education offices, and international organizations. Results and Discussion A total of 78 out of the 90 administered questionnaires were returned for analysis which translated to 86.6 % return rate. Table 2: Response Rate Respondents Issued Returned Pupils 30 29 Head teachers 15 10 Teachers 15 13 Community members 10 7 Out of school children 10 10 DEO and inspectors 4 3 District officers 2 2 Education sponsors 4 4 Total 90 78 Source: researcher (2012) 64

Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents Most pupil respondents were class 8 pupils from the rural areas. Ninety percent of them were between 11-16 years and the rest 17 years and over. About 70% of the out of school children were 16 years and above compared to 30% who were below. About 62% of the teachers and all head teachers were over 31 years. Eighty percent of the community members in the study were above 41 years and 57% of them were males. Less than 15% of them did not complete primary schooling. More than 85% had between 4-9 children compared to less than 15% who had less than 4 children. All had 1-2 Table 3: Duration teachers had worked in Garissa County boys, 82.7 percent had 1-2 girls and 14.3 percent had 2-3 girls. About 86 percent of them had taken advantage of free primary education and had enrolled their children in school. About 70% of the teachers had served Garissa County for more than 6 years compared to about 30% who had been there for less than 5 years. Similarly about 70% of the head teachers had served in the same position in the county for more than 6 years and were therefore experienced enough to understand the community and the status of the schools. Frequency Percent 1-5 years 4 30.8 6-10 years 5 38.4 11 and above 4 30.8 Total 13 100.0 More than 66% informants had 1-5 years work experience, 11.1% had 6-10 years, and 22.2% had worked for more than 11 years (table 4). Further, more than 77% informants had worked in Garissa County for 1-5 years and 11.1% of them for 11 years and above. They were therefore in a good position to give the researcher useful information about the status of the schools, the general environment and the attitude of the community towards education. Table 4: Duration informants had worked in Garissa County Frequency Percent 1-5 years 7 77.8 6-10 years 1 11.1 11 and above 1 11.1 Total 9 100.0 65

percentage Current Status of UPE in Garissa County We asked the pupils and teachers to state their feelings about the physical facilities in their schools and more than 55% pupil respondents and 93% teacher respondents (fig 1) said they were moderate but added that there was a shortage of classes and desks to cater for the enrolled numbers. More than three quarters of the teachers said schools in the county were under equipped. Some 59% pupil respondents said the schools were understaffed, and 83% of them complained that their schools did not have a library. More than 62% reported that 1-5 pupils dropped out of class between 2011 and 2012 Figure 1: Status of schools as viewed by Teachers compared to 38% who indicated that more than five pupils dropped out of class in the same period [fig.2]. About 70% of teacher respondents said that the rate of pupil dropout was above average. Some 65.5% of pupil respondents complained of poor sanitary conditions. Many children, especially girls, were said to have dropped out of school in Garissa County because of the poor conditions of school toilets. In addition, the shortage of toilets in schools was found to interfere with the learning process as pupils queued for long periods to use the few available toilets. School 100 80 60 40 20 0 Yes No Source: Researcher 2012 Table 5: Enrollment rate after introduction of free primary education in 2003 Frequency Percent Overwhelming 11 84.6 Moderate 2 15.4 Low 0 0.0 Total 13 100.0 66

percentage Figure 2: Number of pupils who dropped out of class Number ofpupilswho dropped 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1 to 5 pupils 5 to 10 pupils 10 and above pupils Table 6: Number of pupils per class Frequency Percent 10-20 0 0.0 21-40 1 7.7 41 and above 12 92.3 Total 13 100.0 Some 92.3% teachers said that a typical class in Garissa County has more than 41 pupils compared to 7.7% who reported that their classes contained 21-40 pupils [table 6]. About 70% added that 3 pupils share one desk. These figures indicate that the classes are overcrowded and way beyond the national average. All the teachers who participated in this study agree that the teacher - pupil ratio in the urban areas of the county is between 1:60 and 1:70. As a result 84.6% of teacher respondents said they were overwhelmed by the 2003 FPE enrolment compared to 15.4% who described the enrolment as moderate [table 5]. They all complained of 67

heavy workload and lack of sufficient time to attend to individual pupil s needs. The school completion rate in North Eastern province is far much below the national average of 79.5 percent and stands at only 22.5 percent for girls and 51.1 percent for boys (GOK and UNDP 2010). All the head teachers and community members and about 70% of the teacher (table 7) confirmed that there is no gender balance between girls and boys in terms of enrollment, dropout, completion and transition rates. They blamed this to cultural practices of the community which gave preference to boy s education and also encouraged early marriages, child labor, female genital mutilation, and nomadic lifestyle of pastoral communities, as well as high illiteracy among parents. The head teachers separately complained that so many seminars and workshops interfered with teaching table in public primary schools. Table 7: Availability of enough teachers, learning materials and equipment Yes No Enough Teachers 0.0 100.0 Enough learning materials and adequate equipment 14.3 85.7 More than 57% of the community members were of the opinion that parents in Garissa County do not offer financial support for the implementation of UPE by 2015. However all community members agreed that parents buy their children extra text books to supplement those issued at school. But contrary to the view of other respondents more than 70% of community members and 60% of the out of school children appreciate the level of participation of pastoral communities in the implementation of UPE in Garissa County. Factors affecting implementation of UPE The researcher asked the pupils, teachers and out of school children what they thought was responsible for the high dropouts of pupils in the county and their responses included: lack of finance, lack of family support, early marriages, drug abuse, congested classes, nomadic lifestyle of the community, insufficient boarding primary schools in the rural areas, child labour, frequent cancellation of primary school examination results, early pregnancies, discrimination, poor attitude towards education, lack of good role models, lack of motivation, female genital mutilation, lack of school uniforms and other materials, and lack of sanitary towels in the case of girls. Seventy two percent of the pupils and about 54% teachers acknowledged that many children of school going-age are out of schools in Garissa County. This big number is a hindrance to the implementation of UPE in the county. Table 8 below shows that 37.9% of the pupil s respondents indicated that poverty is responsible of keeping children out of school compared to 17.2% who said nomadic lifestyle, 10.3% who said ignorance, 6.9% who said child labour, and 3.4% who said bad attitude towards girls education and early marriage of girls. Sixty nine percent of the pupils respondents admitted that the bulk of the primary school learners were boys. A further 72% of the pupils said the situation of water and sanitation in their schools is moderate, compared to 13.8% (mainly from 68

the urban areas) who said it was bad. Pupils from the rural areas added that some schools are usually closed during drought seasons due to lack of water. Studies done by the Ministry of Education and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) indicate that the level of participation of pastoral communities in North Eastern Province in the implementation of UPE is very low. Sixty two percent compared to 38% of the pupils agreed with this observation; and 41.4% also agreed with a quasi official statement that the county may not realize the 2015 Millennium Goal for Education. Table 8: Factors Keeping Many Children Out of School Factors Frequency Percent Nomadic 5 17.2 Poverty 11 38 Bad attitude towards girls and early marriage for girls 1 3.4 Child labour 2 7 All of them 7 24.1 Ignorance 3 10.3 Total 29 100.0 The out of school children agreed with those in school that many children of their age are not in school because of lack of parental support, poverty, drug abuse, female genital mutilation, early marriages, child labour, nomadic lifestyle, periodic drought and lack of adequate boarding primary schools in the rural areas, but also added other factors like many of them are orphans, parents poor attitude towards school learning, conflict between Islamic and secular schools, and their lack of interest. However about 60% dismissed the view that pastoral communities in Garissa County do not support the implementation of UPE and instead said that FGM and early marriages are the main factors that hinder the implementation of the program. The out of school children also said that hot weather plays a negative role in the implementation of UPE in the sense that teachers recruited from other parts of Kenya find it difficult to withstand the harsh climatic conditions in the county. They added that hot weather affects learning during the afternoon and water shortage during drought periods normally forces many children out of school to go and take care of family animals. On the whole 50% compared to 40% of the out of school children agreed that the county is unlikely to implement the universal primary education by 2015. The teachers agreed with the pupils and out of school children that poverty is responsible for high school dropouts, low enrollment, and early girl marriages. They also said that the 69

situation is aggravated by poor roads, drought, and lack of electricity, long distance to schools, harsh climatic conditions and breakdown of families. They added that even with the introduction of free primary learning, many children in the county are out of school because parents cannot afford them basic needs like food and clothes. The Impact of Culture and Religion Eighty five percent of the teacher respondents agreed that the culture of the communities affects the implementation of universal primary school in the county. They explained that parents have a preference of integrated schools because they offer both secular and Islamic education; early marriages of girls results in higher rate of dropouts; FGM interferes with girls learning process because parents believe that they should be married off once they are initiated; boys and girls are not supposed to be mixed in schools a fact that discourages competition between them; and boys education is more preferred especially in rural areas. Majority of Garissa population is Muslim and most of them believe that secular education is a western tool to spread Christianity among the people in the region. Based on this, the researcher asked the teachers whether Islamic schools (madarasa) have an impact on the implementation of universal primary education in the county. About 70% teacher respondents compared to about 30% agreed that Islamic schools have an influence on the implementation of UPE in the county. They said that community members argue that learning in madarasa provides some harmony because pupils who attend madarasa believe that Islamic education is more superior to secular education. But the teachers complained that the Islamic school (dugsi) curriculum increases the workload of pupils and they also miss regular classes for a week or two whenever they are sitting for madarasa exams. Table 9: Effect of Islamic Schools on the Implementation of UPE in Garissa County Frequency Percent Yes 9 69.2 No 4 30.8 Total 13 100.0 We also requested teachers to state their level of agreement on whether the implementation of UPE in Garissa County can be hastened by employing more teachers, motivating teachers through salary increment, enhancing school facilities, providing all essential learning materials, offering school meals, promoting education awareness, obligating parents to take girls to schools, or devising joint programmes between public and Islamic schools (table 10). They strongly agreed that employing more teachers (100%), providing essential learning materials to schools (84.6%), obligating parents to take girls to schools (76.9%), enhancing the physical facilities of schools (69.2%), motivating teachers through salary increment (69.2%), offering feeding programs in schools (61.5%), promoting education awareness among community members (53.8%) and coordinating public and Islamic schools (46.2%), are the most 70

crucial things that the government and other stakeholders should attend to in order to achieve UPE by 2015. The teachers further stressed that lack of enough teachers and enough learning materials are the major challenges to the implementation of UPE in the county. They urged the government and other education stakeholders to employ more teachers and provide all essential learning materials to all public primary schools. They also called for the government to set up more boarding primary schools in order to overcome problems associated with pastoralism. Teachers also suggested that the community should use waters from River Tana to irrigate some fields and grow food crops to reduce their reliance on livestock for livelihood. They confirmed that the poor roads in the county contribute to frequent absenteeism of pupils and teachers, poor performance in the Table 10: Percentage of Level of Agreement final exams, poor delivery of materials to schools, and lack of school physical development. They also complained that lack of electricity in most parts of the region undermine the performance of schools because neither can the teachers access new learning materials through the internet nor the pupils their homework and revise at night. All respondents and informants agreed that the nomadic life style occasioned by hot weather forces many pupils to drop out of schools. The livelihood of the people is also adversely affected by drought and many families cannot keep their children in school whenever there are food shortages. The girls pupils also absent themselves from school during such times to fetch water from long distances to cater for the needs of the family. Finally, during such periods schools only operate for half days because children barely concentrate in class especially in the afternoons. Some schools are even closed due to shortage of water. Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree No response Employ more teachers 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Increase teachers increment salary 69.2 30.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Enhance school physical facilities Provide essential learning materials Offer school feeding programs Promote awareness education 69.2 15.4 7.7 0.0 0.0 7.7 84.6 15.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 61.5 30.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.7 53.8 38.5 7.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 71

Obligate parents to take girls to schools 76.9 23.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Devise joint programme 46.2 46.2 7.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 between public and Islamic schools Summary This study aimed at investigating the factors affecting the implementation of universal primary education in Garissa County. One of the tasks was to provide an overview of the current status of universal primary education in Garissa County. The others were to examine the factors hindering the implementation of UPE in Garissa County and to explore the role of and the relationship between culture and religion within the context of the implementation of universal primary education in the county. This study employed both qualitative and quantitative research methods to carry out data collection from pupils, head teachers, teachers, community members, out of school children, and other education stakeholders in Dujis and Lagdera constituencies. Stratified sampling was used to select respondents from pupils, teachers and out of school children while purposive sampling was employed to get responses from the other respondents. The study found out that more than half of the public primary school pupils indicated that the physical facilities of their schools are inadequate for the implementation of UPE and stated that they don t have enough classes, teachers and desks to cater for the enrolled numbers. The pupils also indicated that the conditions of the toilets in their schools are hostile; their schools don t have a library and are understaffed. More than half of the respondents indicated that 1-5 pupils dropped out of class in 2011 to assist family members. Almost all the head teachers, teachers and parents concurred that the available school facilities, learning materials and staff in public primary schools are inadequate for the implementation of UPE in Garissa County by 2015. They observed that the teacher pupil ratio is 1:70 in town schools and the book pupil ratio is 1:4. Majority of the head teachers and teachers indicated that the enrollment rate of their school is high while dropout rate is moderate and there is no gender balance between girls and boys in terms of dropout, enrollment rates, and completion and transition rates in their schools. They were also of the opinion that poverty in Garissa County contributes to high school dropout as pupils go out to seek early employment to earn a living; low enrollment and high rate of girl child dropout due to early marriages, and both have a bearing in the implementation of UPE in the county. They further observed that the level of participation of pastoral communities in the implementation of UPE in the county is low which was out rightly rejected by parents and the out of school children. These two groups also stated that the culture and religion of the community do not affect the implementation of UPE. The key informants confirmed the position of the teachers and the head teachers and added that the position of most public primary schools needs to be improved for the implementation of UPE by 2015. The teachers and the head teachers also indicated that poor roads and lack of electricity in many parts of the county affect the implementation of universal primary education since: it leads to poor performance in the final exams; poor transport and communication; and it hinders development of schools. A relatively significant number of head teachers and teachers believe that many school 72

going age children in the county are out of schools due to high rate of poverty, family breakdowns, lack of enough schools and fixed settlements, poor performance, cultural belief and ignorance. All the respondents other than the parents agreed that the girl child in the county is disadvantaged on matters of education because of household chores, early marriage in exchange of money, negative attitude towards girl education and FGM. They also agreed that Islamic schools affect the implementation of UPE and the education in general because they increase the amount of workload of the pupils as members of the community prefer to take their children to integrated schools which offer religious studies, Arabic lessons and secular education. They added that such curriculum only guarantees poor time management as reflected by the fact that majority of pupils who join Islamic schools end up quitting public schools. Conclusions On the basis of the findings the study concluded that the school, learning materials and the number of staff in public primary schools in Garissa County are inadequate for the implementation of UPE by 2015. The schools were overwhelmed by the enrollment rate that followed the implementation of free primary education in 2003 although some schools, especially those in the rural areas, are still grappling with the issues of retention and low enrollment. There is no gender balance in terms of dropout, enrollment rates, and completion and transition rates in school in Garissa County. Due to ignorance and nomadic lifestyle the level of participation of pastoral communities in the implementation of universal primary education is minimal. Lack of finance and family support, early marriages, drug abuse, congested classes, nomadic lifestyle, shortage of boarding primary schools, lack of awareness about the importance of UPE, seeking early employment, poor infrastructure, high level of illiteracy among parents, frequent cancellation of the KCPE results, early pregnancies, peer influence, lack of good role models, lack of motivation, FGM, distance to school, and lack of sanitary towels for the girls, are some of the factors that hinder the implementation of universal primary education in Garissa County. Similarly extreme poverty in the county is not conducive to the implementation of UPE and it also forces parents to send their children to work to eke a living. In addition the constant drought and shortage of water aggravates school dropouts especially in rural areas because of the migration of families and livestock to the neighboring countries in search of water and pasture. Lack of electricity undermines the performance of pupils in the final exams and the development of ICT in the rural schools while poor roads affect the delivery of foods and materials to schools during the rainy seasons. Early marriages, FGM and Islamic schools were also found to affect the implementation of universal primary in Garissa County. The study found that majority of those who attended Islamic schools considered Islamic education to be more important than secular education and ended up quitting school. The study, therefore, concluded that family-based factors (poverty, parent s education levels and child labour); school-based factors (understaffed teachers, lack of sufficient learning materials); communitybased factors (culture, religion and community lifestyles), environmental-based factors (harsh climatic conditions) and district based factors (poor infrastructure and lack of electricity) all contribute to the poor implementation of universal primary education in Garissa County. Limitations This study sought to assess the factors affecting the implementation of 73

universal primary education in Garissa County. There is need to replicate the study in other arid and semi-arid areas of Kenya so as to make solid conclusions and policy recommendations. References 1. Frances Hunt (2008). Dropping Out from School: A Cross-Country Review of Literature. The Consortium for Educational Access, Transitions and Equity (CREATE). University of Sussex, UK. 2. GOK (2009). Garissa District Development Plan 2008/2012, Government Printer, Nairobi. 3. GOK and UNDP (2002). Millennium Development Goals: progress report 2000. Downtown Printing Works Ltd, Nairobi. 4. GOK and UNDP (2010).Status Report for Kenya 2009, Downtown Printing Works Ltd, Nairobi. 5. Government of Kenya (2005a). Sessional Paper No. 1 of 2005 on Policy Framework for Education, Training and Research. Government Printer: Nairobi. 6. Government of Kenya and UNICEF. (1992). Children and Women in Kenya: A Situation Analysis. Nairobi: UNICEF Kenya Country Office. 7. Hargreaves, David H. (2001). A Capital Theory of School Effectiveness and Improvement, British Educational Research Journal. 8. Institute of Economic Affairs (2008). Profile of Women s Socio-Economic Status in Kenya. IOEA. Nairobi Budget Survey 2005/2006; Basic Report, (Revised edition) 10. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (2010). The 2009 Kenya Population and Housing Census: counting our people for the implementation of vision 2030. Government Printers. Nairobi 11. Ministry of Education (2009) Education Facts and Figures 2002 2008. Government Printer. Nairobi. 12. Ministry of Education (2011). Spatial Analytic Report for NEP: School Mapping. Nairobi. 13. Ministry of Education (2004). Sessional Paper No. 1 of 2004 on Policy Framework for Education, Training and Research: Meeting the challenges of education, Training and Research in Kenya in the 21 st Century. 14. The Pastoralist communities and Free Primary education in Kenya: A Preliminary Survey, study commissioned by the coalition of pastoralist child education and Aridland Resource management project and Action Aid International Kenya, January 2004. 15. U. N. Economic Commission for Africa and UNESCO (1961). Final Report: Conference of African States on the Development of Education in Africa. Addis Ababa 16. UNESCO (2005). Challenges of implementing Free Primary Education in Kenya: Experience from the district, Nairobi. 9. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (2007). Kenya integrated Household 74