Experiencias Nacionales

The curriculum content and the language of instruction form an important component of school quality. It is not enough simply to ensure that children attend school. How knowledge, skills and values are transmitted is as important as what is learned. Much research suggests that early learning is most effectively accomplished in a child‟s native tongue (UNICEF, 1999a). The present study sought to find out what language of instruction was used in the lower primary in the Non-Formal Schools.

In view of the fact that the aim of education is to improve the quality of human life by imparting knowledge, enables individuals to be self-reliant, education is one of the most important investments by both governments and individuals (Republic of Kenya, 1995) and (Psacharopoulos, 1994).

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The school curriculum in Kenya is based on the Kenya‟s philosophy of “Education and Training for Social Cohesion as well as Human and Economic Development” (Republic of Kenya, 2005d). Based on this philosophy, education in Kenya aims at equipping the youth with Knowledge, skills and attitudes to enable them to realize and practise the norms and values of the society while at the same time removing inequality between sexes, regions, social and economic groups. In spite of the heavy expenditure on education by Kenya, access to basic education by all members of the society, particularly the poor and the marginalized remains a big challenge (Qravenir, Mse, Njihia, & Ouma, 2006). Given that basic education provides the basis for further life-long learning and provides the best long-term approach for eradicating illiteracy, basic education should be accessed to all.

Since provision of basic education has over the years been limited to formal schools, children who are unable to join formal schools have not been able to get basic education particularly in urban slums and ASALs (Republic of Kenya, 2005a), (Republic of Kenya, 2005b) and (Republic of Kenya, 2009). Studies have showed that non-formal institutions that offer basic education in non-formal settings play a crucial role in broadening access to basic education to the citizens of a given country (Council of Europe, 1999), (European Youth Forum, 2008) and (Rogers, 2004).

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The development and enactment of the policy for alternative provision of basic education and training in 2009 (Republic of Kenya, 2009) was a great milestone for non-formal education in Kenya. These policy guidelines on non-formal education for children and out-of-school youth gave direction on the functioning and running of NFE in Kenya. This policy recognises that all children and adults are entitled to basic quality education as a right and as (Kemmerer, 1992) argues, such education must be of quality if it was to be meaningful. Most of the educational programmes involving out- of-school children within the developing world were originally associated with NGOs or volunteer organisations that are church related (Epstein, 1996). Two programmes that have received an enormous amount of international publicity by various authors are the Bosconia/La Florida program in Columbia and the Undugu Basic Education Programme in Kenya (Gichuru, 1987) and (UNICEF, 1993). Innovative educational programmes that address the needs of out-of-school children respect those needs rather than ignore them. The present study sought to find out how the curriculum addresses the needs of the children who are unable to join formal schools for various reasons.

The NFE providers from voluntary and church-related institutions make it their business to be mindful of the out-of-school learners‟ way of life and ensure the environment of the out-of-school children is respected with respect to institutional placement as well as curricular and instructional policies. Their flexibility is in part due to their informal mandate and lack

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of overt governmental interference. Out-of-school curricular initiatives tend to supplement rather than substitute regular formal instruction (Epstein, 1996). Issues have been raised as to the exclusive nature of such schools, what they do to the social and cultural identity of pupils and to what extent it capacitates individuals and communities for engaging in “lifelong learning” and in their own form of development (Hoppers, 2000). The message is that the notion of schooling needs fundamental changes in its structural features, the construction of its curriculum and its methodologies of learning. Invariably, such changes have to take into consideration the nature of the pupils, the content to be taught, the processes, the learning environment and the outcomes that are critical ingredients of education quality (UNICEF, 2000) and (UNICEF, 2002).

One of the objectives of primary education in Kenya is to impart literacy, numeracy and manipulative skills (Republic of Kenya, 1988). This is in recognition of the fact that basic literacy enables a person to effectively function in the development of a society. Indeed, “civilization” is based on literacy and therefore, the need for quality education. Considering the fact that basic education provision through NFS is a recent phenomenon in Kenya, there is need for a study that focuses on the quality of education provided by the Non-Formal Schools. The present study used the UNICEF framework for quality education (Fagerlind & Saha, 1989) and (UNICEF, 2000) to investigate the quality of education provided in NFS.

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