Free schooling big boost for poverty eradication in Kenya

The cost of educating a child in Kenya remains one of the biggest drains on family finances. The Kenyan society places high premium on a good education, hence the pressure on parents to do all they can to ensure good education for their children in anticipation of dividends in the form of high-paying jobs. Consequently, caring parents will stop at nothing to give their children the best education they can afford, and this sometimes involves selling family property like land and livestock.

The downside of this is that it has landed many families into the stranglehold of poverty. The promise of free secondary education by both Jubilee and the National Super Alliance in the run-up to the August 8 General Election was therefore received well by families weighed down by the burden of school fees.