Selling free education: Poor students lose out in privatisation of schooling system in Kenya

Education standards in public schools have taken a nosedive over the years

NAIROBI: Elmi House of Grace Academy is not your typical private school. The main infrastructure consists of about half a dozen rusty iron-sheet structures that serve as classrooms. They form a border around a dusty open field that functions as a playground, assembly hall and parking lot.

The church-sponsored educational institution in the heart of Nairobi’s sprawling Kawangware estate serves the educational needs of 280 pupils mostly from low-income families.