A new government report indicates that girls in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid regions experience double the menstrual-related absenteeism compared to those in areas with better services.
The report also reveals that one in five schools still report child marriage cases, and only about a quarter have disability-friendly toilets.
The National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC) warns that without immediate action, Kenya will fail to meet its Vision 2030 and SDG 4 targets for girls’ education.
The gender commission has highlighted interventions focusing on WASH programs, teacher deployment, and gender quotas for school leadership.
Entitled “Evidence on School-Level Factors Affecting Girls’ Access to Quality Education in Marginalised Communities in Kenya,” the report surveyed public primary schools across 19 counties.
Turkana, Mandera, Garissa, and Wajir counties, among others, as well as informal settlements in Nairobi were included in the study.
The report provides a clear picture of barriers that continue to prevent millions of girls from accessing equal educational opportunities.
One of the most significant findings relates to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities.
In counties with inadequate sanitation – defined as more than 40 girls per toilet – menstrual-related absenteeism averaged 15.8 per cent.
In the devolved units meeting basic standards, this figure decreased to 7.3 per cent.
Overall, the average pupil-toilet ratio for girls was 32:1, significantly higher than the national standard of 20:1. However, some regions performed even worse.
Mandera recorded the most unfavorable ratios, with 97 boys per toilet and 45 girls per toilet.
Only 77 per cent of schools had functional handwashing stations, and just 26 per cent provided toilets accessible to girls with disabilities.
In essence, girls miss school monthly due to the lack of private, safe facilities for managing menstruation.
Additionally, despite constitutional guarantees against discrimination, school leadership remains predominantly male.
Across the sampled counties, 76 per cent of headteachers were male, while only 24 per cent were female.
In Wajir and Mandera, every headteacher was male at the time of the research.
Conversely, Nairobi’s informal settlements had a higher percentage of female headteachers – 89 per cent.
The study also found female representation in school governance bodies to be similarly limited.
Women chair only 25 per cent of Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) and 20 per cent of Boards of Management (BOMs).
In Garissa, Wajir, and Mandera, there were no female PTA chairs, revealing that social and cultural barriers remain deeply entrenched.
At least 30 per cent of schools reported teenage pregnancies, and 16.9 per cent of girls were affected by child marriage – in contrast to less than 1 per cent of boys.
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) cases were still reported in Baringo (27 per cent), Garissa (27 per cent), and Narok (21 per cent).
Regarding teacher deployment, significant disparities were observed. In Mandera, for example, the pupil-teacher ratio reached 66:1, far exceeding the national standard of 40:1.
Female teachers were scarce in Wajir (14.9 per cent female) and Mandera (14.6 per cent female), denying girls female role models in the classroom.
The implementation of Competency-Based Education (CBC) was also found to be struggling in marginalised areas.
At least 62 per cent of schools identified teacher shortages as the primary obstacle to implementing new learning areas, while 61 per cent lacked sufficient learning resources.
Digital literacy training for teachers averaged only 33 per cent nationwide, and was nonexistent in Wajir at 0 per cent.
Some positive developments were noted in Tharaka-Nithi, Makueni, and Nairobi’s informal settlements.
Tharaka-Nithi achieved pupil-toilet ratios of just 10:1 for girls.