The boy child lagging behind their female peers in Kenya ought to worry everyone!

Young boys in Kenya face growing challenges in education, mentorship and social development as girls make significant gains. [iStockphoto]

Kenya has made great strides both in its social and economic development since attaining independence from Britain in 1963. The country had, at independence, a small population, which grew past 9 million in 1999, driven by the then-raging high fertility (an average of 6 children per family). And while families were relatively poor in the 1970’s, parents put great efforts to ensure their own children attended school. The result was, during our youth, large classes of 40 to 50 students in primary schools.

Globally, the last thirty years have seen many countries achieve rapid social and economic transformation driven by the need to reduce poverty; improve survival and life expectancy; individual rights and better access to both employment opportunities and services for everyone regardless of their gender, accident of spatial location and/or birth. Kenya is not an exception in this regard; and the country has made and implemented many policy choices, which require objective regular reviews with a view of i) vacating those that have not worked well in the communities, ii) accelerating pace for implementation of those that have resulted in better than expected positive outcomes and impact, and/or ii) to adjust course on those (like the Empowerment of the Girl Child Doctrine...) which on the large part have resulted in immense positive value but also evidently created conditions for emergence of consequential unintended negative outcomes and impact.