Parents have a right to question schools' quality

Kenya High School students celebrate 2025 KCSE results on January 9, 2026. [Kanyiri Wahito, Standard]

A cultural commitment to education is as Kenyan as it gets. From investments in Harambee schools in decades past, to parents willing to pull all stops to get their children higher education, we believe education is a ticket to a better future.

Now, reality does not always align with this belief. The quality of education has significantly declined, and the number of jobs reduced substantially relative to potential employees. But the belief remains a core part of the Kenyan psyche.

Which is why it is understandable that discussions of education policy always bring passionate participation. This week, for example, the discussion centered around school placement.

The conversation revolved around two arguments. First, was the question of variability in school quality; and whether children from places with higher-quality schools should be sent to low-quality schools far from home.

Second, was the muddled debate around ethnicity; and whether the government’s placement policy was deliberately biased against certain ethnic groups.

Let us start with the second argument. From the outset, it should be clear that as a country we shall not get far if we keep platforming backward ethnic chauvinism. In 21st century Kenya, there should be no room for humouring people who are unable to view policy questions other than through the lens of ethnicity. Which is to say that of course it is a good idea to have national schools that admit children from all over the country on a quota basis.

Furthermore, it should not matter where those national schools are located. Period.

The argument about school quality is more interesting, and should not be ignored. Frist, all parents have a right to care about the quality of schools their children attend.

Therefore, parents will always try to maximise their children’s chances of attending the best schools. We are all raised to think this way.

Now, if the government wants to implement a policy of placing children in schools based on exam results or subject selection, it is incumbent upon them to guarantee similar quality across the options on the table. Otherwise, parents will not be too happy to cede control over that decision.   

Second, it is getting harder to secure spots at the best public schools. 15 years ago, barely 750,000 children competed for spots in secondary schools. That number has increased by almost 400,000 since.

Notably, one of the effects of this massive expansion has been the decline in quality as class sizes got bigger.

This has, in turn, made competition for the remaining good schools even more cut throat. This is a problem we should not run away from. And neither should we let crass tribalists be the ones to frame the debate.

All this to say that the policy solution to the placement problem should be investments in more higher-quality schools.

Here, I would argue for a massive upgrading of schools across the country to guarantee the top third of students prime slots in schools away from their home area.

-The writer is a professor at Georgetown University