The education system provides for eight years of Primary, four years of Secondary and four years of University education. This is referred to as the 8-4-4 system of education.

Currently, Kenya has six  Public and ten Private Universities. There are three National Polytechnics, 17 Institutes of Technology and 12 Technical training institutions.

There are a number of international schools catering for various educational systems e.g. American, British, French, German, Japanese and Swedish.

Below are statistics comparing education levels at independence in 1963 and in 1994:

	1963	1994
Enrolment (Primary)	891,553	5.43 million
Enrolment (Secondary)	31,120	0.52 million
Enrolment Universities  (Public and Private)	452 Undergraduates (in one University college.)	40,000 Student Population

There has been a corresponding increase in the number of schools and teachers.

Special Education : The Government also pays attention to education and training facilities to all disabled children. In providing Special Education, the Government works in partnership with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).

Adult Education : The Department of Adult Education in the Ministry of Culture and Social Services is the body charged with the responsibility of spearheading the campaign for the elimination of illiteracy and promotion of adult education for national development. Since independence, the level of literacy has risen from 30 per cent to 44 per cent for males (1992) and from 10 per cent to 60 per cent (1992) for females.

Stages in Education

1. Pre-primary School

Before 1980, pre-primary education, which caters for children between one and six years of age, was exclusively the responsibility of local communities and non-governmental organisations such as churches, voluntary organisations, local authorities and individual investors. At that time there were only six pre-school training centres, which were usually manned by the Ministry of Culture and Social Services.  

The Government assumed responsibility  and has since streamlined the pre-school programme:
     a) Pre-school teachers training ,
     b) Preparation and development of the curriculum 
     c) and the preparation of teaching materials.
The development of pre-school units and the cost of teachers' services has, on the other hand, continued to be met by the communities and other non governmental agencies.  

The number of children attending pre primary units in 1990 was in the order of 800,000 while the number of pre school teachers was about 20,000.  

2. Primary Schools

Primary education is the first phase of our formal education system. It usually starts at six years of age and runs for eight years. The main purpose of primary education is to prepare children to participate fully in the 
                   a) social, 
                   b) political 
                   c) and economic well being of the Nation. 
The new primary school curriculum has been designed to provide a more functional and practical education to cater for the needs of children who finish their education at the primary school level and  for those who wish to continue with secondary education. Since independence the government has gradually taken over the administration of primary education from local authorities and assumed a greater share of the financial cost in line with the political commitment to provide equal educational opportunities to all through the provision of free primary education. Government expenditure on school supplies and equipment are minimal as these are financed by fees levied on parents by Parent Teacher Associations. In addition responsibility for the construction and maintenance of schools and staff housing is shouldered by the parents.

At independence, there were 6,056 primary schools with a total enrolment t of 891,600 children. At that time, trained teachers numbered 92,000. In 1990 there were over 14,690 primary schools, with an enrolment of slightly over five million children and with nearly 200,000 trained teachers respectively. In addition to the expansion in the number of primary students enrolled, there has been a significant improvement in the participation of girls in education. At independence, only about a third of enrolment in primary schools were girls. By 1990 the proportion of girls had risen to nearly 50 per cent.   

3. Secondary Schools

Kenya currently has 8-4-4 system of education which replaced the 7-4-2-3 system in 1985, it takes four years in secondary education. The new secondary school curriculum has been designed to provide a more functional and practical education to cater for the needs of students who finish their education at the secondary school level and  for those who wish to continue with higher education. It lays greater emphasis on job-oriented courses, such as        business and technical education. 

There are two care categories of secondary schools in Kenya, namely
   a) Public schools : funded by the Government or communities and are managed 
                                through a Board of Governors and  Parent Teacher Associations.
   b)  private schools: established and managed by private individuals or organizations.

There has been a tremendous increase in both the number of secondary schools and in student enrolment in response to the rapidly increasing number of primary school leavers seeking entry to the secondary level. In 1963 there were only 151 secondary schools, with a total enrolment of 30,120 students. Today there are nearly 3,000 secondary schools with a total enrolment of 620,000 students with  slightly over 40 per cent being girls. The increase  was as a result of the vigorous harambee movement that has led to the establishment of numerous community secondary schools. 

4. Universitities

The first step towards the introduction and development of university education in Kenya was taken in 1961 when the then Royal College, Nairobi was elevated to university college status. The College entered into a special arrangement with the University of London, which enabled it to prepare students for the degrees of the University of London. With the establishment of the University of East Africa in 1963, the Royal College became the University College, Nairobi. The other constituent colleges of the University of East Africa were Makerere in Uganda and Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania. The University of East Africa continued operating until 1970 when the University College of Nairobi attained university status.