Nairobi County Tracks Student Dropout Rates to Strengthen Interventions

The County Government of Nairobi has stepped up efforts to monitor student dropout rates across its schools, developing a real-time tracking system aimed at identifying learners at risk and triggering timely interventions. The initiative, announced during a joint forum by the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO (KNATCOM) and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), is part of a wider national push to reduce school-leaving and ensure the delivery of quality education. According to official records, Nairobi is among the 16 counties targeted with enhanced dropout-monitoring frameworks. Ministry of Education
The system draws on data collected from schools’ enrolment registers, attendance logs and community-outreach teams that visit homes of absent learners. Periodic audits completed in informal settlements of Nairobi—and studies such as those conducted in low-income zones like Kasarani sub-county—highlight dropout rates that exceed 50 % in certain schools when measured between enrolment and completion. Index Copernicus Journals+1 By combining this empirical data with predictive analytics, the County aims to flag learners who are more likely to leave school prematurely—due to factors like poverty, household instability or repeated absenteeism—and channel them into mentorship, remedial classes or social-support programmes.
Early feedback from the programme shows encouraging trends. Schools involved in the pilot phase report improved retention and faster follow-up on absentee cases. Parents, educators and local community leaders have praised the coordinated approach which seeks to move beyond blaming students to handling dropout as a system-wide issue. At the same time, education experts caution that tracking alone is insufficient. They stress that unless the underlying causes—such as school‐fees burden, safety concerns, and informal-settlement pressures—are simultaneously addressed, the data will only reveal problems rather than resolve them.
Looking ahead, Nairobi County plans to expand the tracking platform to all 17 sub-counties and integrate it with other learner-support services like nutrition programmes, bursaries and counselling. Officials hope that the enriched data will help tailor interventions to specific wards and student groups most at risk. If the system delivers on its promise, Nairobi could set a blueprint for how urban school systems in Kenya manage dropout risk and work proactively to keep learners in school. unicef.org+1