What’s at stake for a more equitable world? Dynamics in accessing quality education in urbanizing Kenya and Uganda

• In Event: Towards equitable quality education for children living in urban informal settlements: experiences from East Africa

Proposal

Africa is currently home to 1.2 Billion people and it is projected to almost double by the year 2050 to reach 2 Billion (UN DESA 2022). While more than half of the world’s population currently lives in urban areas, Africa’s population remains mostly rural (ref). However, with the rapid population growth, projections show that by 2030 half of the population in Africa will be living in urban areas. The growth in the urban population in Africa will be driven by key factors including the rural-urban migration, the natural growth and the re-classification of smaller existing towns to cities. Urbanization drives the social and economic wellbeing of individuals and by extension nations. However, recent evidence has emerged on potential risks on infrastructure, health, unemployment, social instability that countries are likely to encounter with urbanization. Additionally, the existence of urban areas and the trends of urbanization differ in many contexts such as in the definition of urban areas, the existing infrastructure, and the delivery of services such as education (Turok & McGranahan, 2013).
Kenya and Uganda’s population is still predominantly rural, however each continues to experience rapid growth in the urban population (UNICEF, 2020). This rapid growth is faced by a myriad of challenges especially in the provision of basic social services including education. In the two countries education is a right protected in each of the country’s Constitutions and for the last two decades they have also implemented the Universal Primary and Secondary Education policies. However, a significant proportion of children, especially those living in urban poor areas are not ripping the benefits.
Therefore, this paper will focus on understanding the differences and similarities in accessing quality education for children living in the informal settlements of Kenya and Uganda. We will use data from two cross- sectional studies conducted in Kenya and Uganda. In Kenya, the study targeted 883 households and 471 schools located in selected urban informal settlements, while in Uganda from 1102 households in Kampala and Mukono. The studies sought to understand the schooling patterns of children living in selected urban informal settlements before and during COVID19 pandemic.
We find that in the two countries, a majority of learners in urban informal settlements are utilizing Low Cost Private Schools and therefore not benefitting from the Universal free education policies. We also find that there was movement of learners from private schools to public schools during the school closures due to COVID-19.However despite the similarities we observe differences in the type of schools, and the ownership status due to the different existing legal and policy frameworks in the two countries.
We therefore recommend adoption of strategies such as the Public Private Partnership to ensure children from the urban informal settlements have access to quality education and extension of the capitation grants to children in urban informal settlements. Further, we recommend a regional targeted attention on education in the urban informal settlements.

Author

• Caroline Thiongo, African Population And Health Research Center