Nairobi County Expands Free Learner Support Centers in Low-Income Areas

The Teach For Kenya in partnership with the Nairobi County Government has officially launched a city-wide programme to establish free Learner Support Centres in Nairobi’s low-income neighbourhoods. Under the memorandum of understanding signed on 30 August 2024, the centres will be set up in informal-settlement wards and offer academic tutoring, digital-learning resources, and mentorship for children facing barriers to education.
The initiative responds to longstanding challenges in under-resourced schools in Nairobi where overcrowding, teacher shortages and lack of after-school support hamper student performance. By placing these Learner Support Centres directly within vulnerable communities, the programme seeks to provide safe, structured environments where pupils can access learning materials, receive guidance from trained facilitators and engage in peer-study sessions. Remote-learning tools and digital tablets will also be supplied to ensure learners who lack home study settings are not left behind. According to the partnership text, fellows from Teach For Kenya will be deployed to each centre, receive professional development and co-facilitate the programmes alongside county-appointed mentors.
Reactions from community members and educators have been overwhelmingly positive. Local parents in selected wards highlighted the relief that children now have a dedicated place to study after school, which they say helps reduce absenteeism and improves academic readiness. School principals welcomed the additional learning support, citing preliminary reports of higher homework completion rates and improved class participation among learners attending the centres. Analysts, however, emphasised the importance of sustained funding and monitoring to ensure quality and equity across centres, especially in deeply marginalised zones.
Looking ahead, the Nairobi County Government plans to scale the scheme across all of its 85 wards by the end of 2026. The rollout includes establishing performance metrics, linking the centres to bursary and feeding programmes, and integrating digital-learning dashboards to monitor learner progress. Should the expansion proceed smoothly, Nairobi’s model could become a national blueprint for complementing formal schooling with community-based learner support in urban low-income settings.